Oceania Rising: Wayfinders

ARTIST STATEMENT

‘Migration’ and ‘Survival’ are two dramatised visual narratives. Both, are stories of survival. Both are lavishly lamented in a patina of human desperation, isolated on the brink of life or death stranded on an ocean of unforgiving desolation. Hopeless and helpless, a dystopian ‘last stand’ for humanity, suffering in isolation.

The seeds are sewn, Historically well documented, Migration is survival. Fictional here, Reality today for hundreds of thousands if not millions of people globally. Displacement as a direct result preceded by a catastrophic event. It is real and happening now everywhere.

Secreted in the composition of the original work and inspiration “The Raft of the Medusa” painted in 1818 by the French Romanticist Theodore Gericault is a scathing sad depiction of society. A pyramid of people cannibalised under its own weight. survival of the richest few, haemorrhaging the poorest masses,

Migration is survival, isolation is suffering. one of many distilled, human drama stories.

Isolated events have global life changing impact. Holistic collective global response for long term solutions to be orchestrated and localised. Our relationships with ourselves and our neighbours should be prioritised and valued, followed by global cultural and economic relationships. Empower the disempowered collectively empowering ourselves. Nurturing dialogue and ecology.

The Raft + The Arrival received generous support and funding from Creative New Zealand. Arts Council.