An abbreviated and punctuated white 'I' occupies the paintings central space. White Island (Whakaari), a volcanic island off the coast of the Bay of Plenty, is the main character in a Maori myth involving a love triangle of Moving Mountains. The mythical self-centred Whakaari, who calls her lover to sea in a plume of white steam, is cut and stitched in place, a hand-lashed 'sail' floating in a linen field.