Mānawa (Mangroves), 2017
My entry into this year’s Estuary Art Award is intended to draw attention to the halophytes (salt tolerant trees) of the Tamaki Estuary environment and their place in this ecosystem. The artwork was made using foliage from the Tamaki Estuary area including fallen mangrove leaves, samphire and reeds. These salt tolerant plants are specially adapted to conditions that other plants cannot survive. The leaves of the mangroves have small pores which excrete salt and they are strong and shiny so that rain can wash off brine easily. Fortunately they maintain their shape and texture well even when fallen. I apply paint to the leaves and press them onto heavy paper to get prints – my technique is an amalgam of painting and printmaking. I found a whole mangrove branch washed up after a storm and used it to make my most recent artwork. Mangroves shed their leaves regularly, especially during summer to help control their salt level and to reduce water loss through evaporation from the leaves.
The other foliage I’ve used for this series includes samphire. In the UK I sometimes cooked edible samphire when it was available. It is an odd looking plant with tubular stems. Mānawa also includes prints from reeds.
Research for this series of artworks involved weekly trips to the Tamaki Estuary area to collect foliage and a series of photographs from the Pakuranga area of the estuary. I used a good quality soft Fabriano printmaking paper for the final artwork.
Mānawa, 2017 (detail)
Mānawa, 2017 (detail)
In addition to preparing artwork for Estuary Art Award I have been hunting for a space to exhibit paintings later this year. Funding an exhibition is a huge challenge so I’ve been looking at a few non-traditional ways to achieve this. In 2015 I started a small creative business to help me fund my art practice called Corokia Studio. I’ve recently added some new pictures to the Corokia Studio Etsy shop. These are available as instant downloadable printable files. They can be printed at home on good quality photo paper or a print/copy shop can do it for you. Purple Garden (below) is an example of the sort of artwork you can buy from me online. All proceeds help keep the art coming!
Finally, a sneak preview of some small and vibrant new works on paper to brighten things up, a complete contrast to the estuary artworks. Happy Easter everyone.
Celeste Sterling 