Abstract

My interest is the idea of landscape as an historical, conceptual and intricately physical construct. I am interested in landscape that cannot be read or understood at one glance, but that reveals itself slowly and in contradictory ways.  Key thematics include: the residues of history; landscape as primarily marked by absence; landscape as a history of ecological disruption; the loss of biological complexity and the loss of habitats; and the potential for landscape, for specific sites to foster sanctuaries.  There is an on-going anxiety that stems from knowledge about the lack of sustainable agricultural practices, which lead to such effects as run-off and mineral depletion.  In addition I am interested in imagery of decay and unkempt vegetation that continue a theme of 'Antipodean Gothic'; of variously haunted landscapes; and in landscapes that are familiar and banal to many New Zealanders.