Cultures Interwoven
Dimensions
860 x 940 x 10 mm (overall)
Materials
Bobbin lace using harakeke (New Zealand flax), river stones, mounted on acrylic
Artist statement
‘I began making bobbin lace in 1991 in my native Northern Ireland. After moving to New Zealand in 2005 I was introduced to weaving harakeke (New Zealand flax), which in Māori custom is associated with family, ancestors and land.
I grow the harakeke I use, taking it through all the processes from plant to finished article. While using unbroken fibres emerging from the leaf tip acknowledges the significance to Māori of the plant, fibre and articles woven from it, I work those fibres into bobbin lace, a craft of European origin.
The boat-like shapes of Cultures Interwoven evoke historical journeys — the first coming of people to Aotearoa in canoes; Captain Cook’s long-boats in search of land and timber for the British Empire; the use by Māori of small canoes to harvest natural resources of the rivers and swamps. Shadows cast by these shapes suggest co-existing cultures and the fragility and interdependence of their traditions and customs.’
Cultures Interwoven
Joyce Fleming
Dimensions
860 x 940 x 10 mm (overall)
Materials
Bobbin lace using harakeke (New Zealand flax), river stones, mounted on acrylic
Artist statement
‘I began making bobbin lace in 1991 in my native Northern Ireland. After moving to New Zealand in 2005 I was introduced to weaving harakeke (New Zealand flax), which in Māori custom is associated with family, ancestors and land.
I grow the harakeke I use, taking it through all the processes from plant to finished article. While using unbroken fibres emerging from the leaf tip acknowledges the significance to Māori of the plant, fibre and articles woven from it, I work those fibres into bobbin lace, a craft of European origin.
The boat-like shapes of Cultures Interwoven evoke historical journeys — the first coming of people to Aotearoa in canoes; Captain Cook’s long-boats in search of land and timber for the British Empire; the use by Māori of small canoes to harvest natural resources of the rivers and swamps. Shadows cast by these shapes suggest co-existing cultures and the fragility and interdependence of their traditions and customs.’