Inflorescence, with Bobbie Gray and Jesse Watson
at Comet Project Space, for Artweek 2020

ia | flow with Kirsty McNeil, 2019-2020
Nathan Homestead Pukepuke

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'Moments', 2019 Unfired recycled commercial clay
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Installation view showing 'Leaves' and Kirsty McNeil's 'Cadence', 2019 Papier-mache and photocopy paper
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'Leaves', 2019 Photocopy paper
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Driveway at 'The Hill', Manurewa, ca 1935 (Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 06239), 2019 Screenprint with earth from the grounds of David Nathan Park

'Recent Species' at Lightscape, for Artweek 2019
Comet Project Space


Salon des Refuses, 2019
Comet Project Space

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Photo by Pip Stephens
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Photo by Pip Stephens

Nest, 2018
Nathan Homestead Pukepuke

To nest is to make a home; a place of comfort, warmth and protection.

Nests are temporary homes. While they may be inhabited by different generations, they are not permanent. They are havens for time-being; spaces for nurturing, for privacy, for rest.

Nests don’t come with white ware, or built in storage, but they have excellent natural ventilation systems. They’re sustainably built from organic locally-sourced materials, they’re environmentally friendly and they make the most of small spaces. Plus, 9 times out of ten they come with a fantastic view.

Nests are never bigger than they need to be. They are sometimes fussy, but never overstated. They are perfectly designed for their purpose – to meet what Maslow defines as ‘basic needs’, essential for both physical and mental well-being.

Somewhere along the (bright) line we seem to have lost sight of this. While the rich get richer, wage earners who can’t afford homes themselves pay for criminals to have rooves over their heads, clean sheets, three meals, hot showers and underfloor heating.
Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”

The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act (1990), which is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, acknowledges the right to freedom of expression, religious belief, movement and the  right to be free from discrimination, but fails when it comes to meeting the basic physiological needs that a home provides.

There’s no reason for our people to be sleeping in cars, or on the streets. There’s space enough for everyone. The average person doesn’t need a 200 square metre houses, they need a place to rest their head, a place where they can nest.

Home is.....

Field Notes, 2016                                                                                                    
Elam School of Fine Arts

Flora Urbana, 2016                                                                              
with Phantom Billstickers, Symonds St
What do I want? Where do I stand? Elam offsite group show

Human Nature, 2016                                                                                                  
Group Show, George Fraser Gallery