hā brings together ceramic works by Audrey Goggin and cyanotype prints by Anouska Wallis-Lewis. Both artists allow natural elements and their materials to determine organic forms, initiating conversations between the works and the environment they find themselves in. In Te Reo Māori, the word ‘hā’ can be translated into English as ‘breath’, but it also holds meanings of ‘life force’ and ‘vitality,’ along with links to a Te Ao Māori story of creation in which Tāne sculpts the first woman out of uku (clay) and breathes life into her. Goggin and Wallis-Lewis work with the life present within their materials, giving them space to breathe in order to explore interconnections in te taiao (the natural world).
“Our title(s) act as an acknowledgment of the Indigenous contexts we are inherently working with through utilising the environment in our work, and of how our work opens conversations with that.”
Anouska Wallis-Lewis is a multi-disciplinary artist completing her BFA at Elam School of Fine Arts with a focus in printmaking. Wallis-Lewis examines the intersection of printmaking and photography through her use of cyanotype; a light sensitive solution which leaves behind a remnant of form when exposed to U.V. Wallis-Lewis gives autonomy to light to naturally expose the work, revealing the minutiae of change that occurred during its migration within the exposure. Her method of non interference considers light’s intractable and intangible nature, the final form only evident after the chemicals are washed from the paper. You may witness the trace of an undulating leaf as the sun shifts a degree in its orbit; the varied reactions of a chemical solution to a fleeting diurnal moment.
Audrey Goggin is a London-born Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist currently completing her BFA at the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts. She works primarily between oil paint and uku (clay), exploring familial, cultural, and ecological histories through both primary source and material research. In this body of ceramic vessels, Goggin continues an ongoing exploration of her complicated relationship to whenua and place. Using mixes of wild uku, black sand, and various volcanic rocks, she creates conversations with materials and their origins, allowing them to determine their own coil-built forms. Each piece grows into its organic silhouette naturally, without her knowing what form will come to life.
Presented as part of DEPOT’s 30th year celebration.