Artist Statement — The Rivers Remember

I make paintings to hold places in light and memory. In The Rivers Remember I turn toward Coraki — its heritage buildings, the meeting of rivers, and the lives shaped by flood and feast — seeking to reconnect past and present. These works are born from walks, conversations and old stories: sketches of weathered verandas, the tilt of timber posts, the sweep of a riverbank after rain.

My practice blends architectural detail with atmospheric landscape, using layered texture and colour to evoke both the materiality of places and the emotions they carry. I am drawn to contrasts — the town’s former importance and its quieter present, the river’s threat and its generosity — and I aim to celebrate resilience rather than mourn loss.

Ultimately these paintings are invitations: to remember, to imagine the hands and voices that built a community, and to appreciate the enduring beauty that continues to hold it together.