An iconic talisman hovers above the mountain island next to an obelisk. Although the physical tree can no longer be seen standing upon One Tree Hill, the spirit of the one tree is forever tethered to the mountain as a memory of what once was Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill. This painting depicts moments in the history of the tree on One Tree Hill. It was chainsawed and unsuccessfully cut down in a political protest. The strands of rope were tied to its branches in an attempt to save the ailing tree but it died and was removed. The painting depicts different aspects of the series of events layered, until the tree looks like a spirit of itself.
the Island series
This series began as a distillation of our own small New Zealand islands into an even smaller environment. The tableau's compress the interactions between the native wildlife and the colonial immigrants that became the new locals. Each island artwork varies in content but all hold the same concerns... That an island is a fragile ecosystem and each participant affects the overall health, resources and sustainability of that small environment