Living in Ngapara, Joanna Tokona

Flanked by giant Macrocarpa trees, we live the rural life on an acre section isolated and free. With a ram, a sheep and four chickens, we try to live out of Tāne’s gardens. Tāne has taught me that if we look after the land, the land looks after us.

With this in mind, the Macrocarpas seem ancestral. Cloaked in their protruding bark they stand tall always looking on, watching over us.

Each day I drive the road from Ngapara to Waitaki Boys’ High School to work with my ‘art sons’. In my seventh year at that place, I am careful to maintain a whanau-like environment.

On my way to and fro, above the car, molten skies often give way to billowing cloud formations. These journeys are spectacular.

Event: Artist’s Talk Tuesday 19 July, 2016 at 5.30pm

 

When

Location

Forrester Gallery