MFA Grad Show, 2022. Whitecliffe.

 

The viewing of land as landscape in Aotearoa has been shaped by colonial ideals based on picturesque scenes that evolved in art history over several centuries. Acknowledging the whenua in Aotearoa, I aim to subvert or challenge Eurocentric pictorial landscape traditions, particularly the framing of the ‘ideal scene,’ and how this has translated onto how we see and engage with the land. I became invested in the ways in which the viewing of nature for its scenic value could be disrupted.

​

 

The human psychological response when viewing a landscape is often coded with preconceived notions of what a landscape is. Shaped by layers of cultural and historical context and concepts such as the picturesque and the sublime, and the representation of nature through the mediums of painting and photography, have influenced the perception of land and assigned cultural value onto these spaces.

 

I have sought to create a constructed landscape image - in a literal sense of that word – through making an unreal scene, a digital utopia, an unobtainable place, recognisable yet unfamiliar.  Questioning the role that representation plays in the depiction of landscape through avenues such as tourism and social media, as well as the impact of the historical view on the perception of these spaces. By interrupting the recognisable tropes of the picturesque through its conventions of composition and framing I seek to challenge the viewing of a traditional landscape image and the inherent biases surrounding what is considered a scenic image; as nature itself seems to have been replaced by a screen, and the viewing of these spaces exists only in a temporal digital sphere.

​

That was worth the trek, 2022. Two channel projected moving image.

It really is a pretty little spot, 2022. Projected moving image.

That’s pretty impressive isn’t it, 2022. Moving image.