lifelines

Work produced for a virtual group exhibition with colleagues from the Print Studio, Dunedin School of Art, for Impact 12 Print Conference in Bristol, UK, 21-25 September 2022. The project culminated in a 5 minute video presentation filmed on Quarantine Island / Kamau Taurua, Ōtepoti, Dunedin, NZ.

The theme for the conference was ‘Listening to each other’s voices’ with the chosen topic of Touching and Touched and the exhibition title Hold Dear.

Notes from the catalogue:

In a time of separation, loss and social distancing, Hold Dear unites three artists from the Print Studio at the Dunedin School of Art, located in what is considered the ‘hermit nation’ of Aotearoa New Zealand. Lynn Taylor interacts with a local island’s status in history creating a physical, immersive community environment. Kiri Mitchell digitally animates intimacy to stroke power relationships and sexual politics. Marion Wassenaar grapples with deprived contact, in a personal narrative lamenting isolation and the vanishing freedoms of children.   

lifelines, 2022, laser and hand cut MDF woodcuts, handprinted on emergency blankets. Playgrounds promote a welcome and inclusive environment where children have the freedom to play and engage in physical, kinesthetic activity. During lockdowns playgrounds became desolate spaces, with restrictions and regulations in place. The use of the emergency blanket, in realising this project, acts as a metaphorical support to substitute these inanimate play spaces with care and protection of our children, to shelter them in an uncertain future.