awa – river and whenua – place

Awa bend and flow moving continuously through the whenua, our land. During separation through lockdown being unable to travel, I was drawn to my river viscerally through memory.

Together these river marks show my awa, Te Hoiere – Pelorus my ancestral place, laid over whenua, endeavouring to depict my deep attachment to both awa and whenua, spiritually and emotionally.

They are water and place abstracted: a beginning, a breathing, a becoming – to quote the people of the river Ngāti Hau, from Whanganui.

Ko au te awa … ko te awa ko au
I am the river… and the river is me

Judi Bagust

Aotearoa Awa
Aotearoa Awa
Aotearoa Awa
Aotearoa Awa
Aotearoa Awa
Aotearoa Awa
Aotearoa Awa
Aotearoa Awa
Aotearoa Awa