Ahi and Fists with Iro

Heidi Brickell’s artistic practice is informed by her painterly explorations of the pictorial plane, which in recent years have moved outside of the canvas to involve expanded forms of drawing in space, articulated with sculptures made from natural materials. For this series of works, a continuation of her installation Wai Ata Āta Whāia at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū earlier this year, Brickell collected rimurapa (bull kelp) from the shore in Ōtaki, coiling and winding it onto rākau (wood) with twine and other more industrial materials. The installation’s title draws from the words ‘waiata’ and ‘atawhai’, which together can translate to ‘kind song’. When teased apart as Brickell has done, their new configuration signals an invitation to think through our relations to the many worlds and ecologies that surround us.

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