In my previous post, ‘Pōhutukawa Play’, I was exploring surface treatments and finishes that I could achieve with the timber. The second part of the exercise given by my mentor, Neke Moa, was to go deeper into the material. Beyond the surface. It was time to explore what forms could speak to what I had learnt about the pōhutukawa tree – its uses, its histories, its stories and its abundant meanings. I thoroughly enjoyed looking and learning in a much deeper way than what I normally do with materials. I am sure I have only touched the tip of the iceberg with this knowledge. I look forward to learning more as I go.
Through my reading, what stood out for me was the pōhutukawa trees’ connection to the concept of the beginning and end, death and the beyond, journey, travel, time and strength. I began by focusing on the idea of “beginning and end”, having the form change or evolve in some way over the length of the piece. Neke suggested trying to put all I had learnt into one piece. But first, I began with playing with the idea of evolution of form over a few pieces to first get a sense of what worked best. I embraced the old adage from Design Thinking: “fail early, fail often” in order to narrow down to the ideas of what forms could communicate what I am trying to achieve.
From the larger exploration I chose a few to take a little further. Playing with the addition of details and including the iconic red from the pōhutukawa blossoms. Each of the pieces below explores the idea of journey, things changing over time and evolution of form in different ways. Sometimes there comes to a point where a form speaks to you a little more loudly than others. Often there are no words to quite capture why one form works and others don’t work as well. It is about the feeling of holding the piece in your hands or around your neck. It is often something to contend with when photographing work. The images flattens the pieces and doesn’t always show the depth of the subject.
For me, this part of the exercise is a work in progress. I am still narrowing down to THE piece. In the meantime I have learnt a lot from the process. I have enjoyed diving more deeply into the material, not just using it as a means to an ends, so to speak. I look forward to diving more deeply into the other materials I would like to use, and how this will change the way I create work.