Aro ki te Wairua o te Hā: Spoken Spirit, Spirit Formed

Abstract

This piece is two videos. Part I, Aro ki te Wairua o te Hā, is set within native bush on the lands of Te Kawerau ā Maki. Videography, words and painting articulate my identity and journey as an Indigenous artist, activist and community psychologist. I begin with an abstract image that appears visually dislocated, fluid and non-complementary, inviting the audience to draw on senses to emancipate stories and spirit otherwise choked in Psychology and to make sense of the image – to try and create, light up and connect – thereby also inviting mystery, curiosity, confusion and misperception. In Part II, Ali, Rachel and I kōrero after having seen and felt Part I. My stories of Psychology, diving, painting and my Nan carry us through the role of unknowing and vulnerability when experimenting with form. I reflect on how painting is an assertion of mana motuhake and commitment to decolonisation. While this Abstract has reflected on content, I conclude with a ‘Concrete’ that reflects on form, before offering a recording by Dr Amitabh Rai.