Phantom Canoe
1995
Passage Series.
Phantom Canoe alludes to an empty seed pod, transported by water and discarded on the shore.
The work relates to the way migratory vessels became superfluous after arrival in Aotearoa, the new land. For both Maori and European the gateway to the land has been the shore. All our ancestral history began this way.
The vessel, a recurrent theme in my work, becomes a metaphor for life and survival and embodies the metaphysical concept of leaving behind what is no longer necessary.
Dimensions: Length 3200mm x Width 550mm x Depth 400mm.
Materials: Macrocarpa, acrylic stains, beeswax and dammar resin.
Private Collection, Auckland.