Aroha

2016–

Indian black granite
200mm H x 300mm Dia.
Edition of 10, 1 A/P

Series: X-Figure

Aroha, meaning ‘love’ in Māori, is a text message (x) and a ‘kiss’ that combines and connects. Responsive to movement and light, it casts complex shadows and refractions, and generates internal reflections. Like a stone marker, Aroha indicates the paths ahead while anchoring people in place and time. Made from an igneous stone which was once magma at the Earth’s core, the sculpture’s minimalist form reprises early Palaeolithic cave drawings, primitive x-markings recording the migrations of early humans across Continents and Oceans. An x-mark was used also by indigenous peoples as an insignia when signing foreign language treaties and legal deeds affecting their lands, governance and rights. On Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840 (Treaty of Waitangi), the x-signatures of rangatira (chiefs) convey a presence and power that transcends material worlds. This nation-making treaty was undercut by mixed motives and driven by love for ancestors, people and land. In Aroha those quill pen markings are expressed in ink-black stone, one line crossing another, inscribing the baseline axis (x) on a young nation’s geo-political map. Mathematical and sensual, Aroha adds up and multiplies to express the exponential power of love.