BEYOND THE ASH CLOUD

Exhibited in Open Window - Ana Iti, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, Ngāmotu New Plymouth

Beyond the ash cloud is an installation that undertakes a poetic enquiry into the layering of volcanic and geological processes. Made for the window of the Govett Brewster Gallery in Ngāmotu New Plymouth the installation is situated in a particularly volcanic area of the country where pyroclastic and laharic flows are a characteristic of the landscape. These lava flows travelled down the maunga at great speeds and temperatures, indiscriminately gathering materials which then set into new forms when the lava cooled and solidified.

Beyond the ash cloud comprises six text-based prints on butcher’s paper, clay and rocks, and an audio field recording of the process of collecting these geological materials. The text itself was influenced by these volcanic flows and blends found texts with my own writing to create a narrative that explores the local geology, pūrākau, industrial structures and the materiality of cities. Letterpress is an embodied process, a physical way of laying out text and handling language, this work was aided by Millan Pintos-Lopez at the University Canberra.

Beyond the ash cloud, letterpress prints on butchers paper, Matauri bay clay, material from the pyroclastic and laharic flow in Ōakura, audio, 2019. Photography by Sam Hartnett.