The work shown here was made in and around Hinewai Forest Reserve in Horomaka Banks Peninsula. I first heard about Hinewai Forest after I had dropped out of my Batchelor of Fine Arts Degree in the ‘90s. I became ill from photo-chemistry exposure after working in colour labs and student darkrooms. Between high school and university my love of photography involved unwittingly breathing toxic fumes because very few darkrooms had adequate ventilation.
Much has changed in photography and health and safety workplace requirements since I developed my first roll of film in 1987. By ’97, having turned my back on photography, I never thought that one day I’d be completing a Master of Fine Arts degree.
This body of work from my MFA research brings me full circle, utilising genealogy and ethnobotany to trace human trajectories. I processed the film using caffenol developer made from coffee, vitamin C and washing soda. This sustainable approach marries meaning and materiality as I focused on Hinewai Forest to investigate what it means to be tangata Tiriti. The accompanying green monochromes are anthotypes, from the 1800’s anthotype method invented by Scottish woman, Mary Somerville, consisting of silverbeet and vodka which was sun-exposed to capture the shadows of gorse, dandelion, catnip and red clover. Originating in the lands of my ancestors, I foraged these species, making herbal tinctures to boost my central nervous and immune systems whilst forming a tangible bridge to my lineage.
The gorse in particular is an ‘unlikely ally’, introduced to divide confiscated lands, it soon thrived here, escaping hedgerows, invading pastures and consequently reclassified as a noxious weed. This plant heals people and it can also heal the land, and is catalytic to forest regeneration. A catchment from summit to sea was set aside in 1987 by Dr Hugh Wilson as he consciously stepped back, leaving nature in control of re-establishing her original covering.
Knowing gorse to be shade intolerant and nitrogen fixing Hugh encouraged this nursery plant to shield endemic seedlings. Once they outgrew their nursery, the new trees overshadowed the gorse into ground cover as the once marginal sheep country transformed into Hinewai Forest Reserve. Tane’s children thrive here as the land now works in harmony, resisting fire, its rivers never running dry, even when the surrounding barren land is drought-stricken, for Hinewai translates as water maiden. A hill fire in recent years saw Hinewai Forest act as a natural fire-break.