Women’s Work 2025

I was very pleased to have been included in Women’s Work’s 2025 exhibition (In)visible shown in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland from March 7-10. “A photographic exhibition exhibiting the work of 35 of Aotearoa’s finest female photographers.” I exhibited a photograph of an exposed kelp bed as an emerging artist and received good feedback on opening night from the exhibition’s curators who have encouraged me to submit as a professional photographer next year. Those who know me, when I told them said, of course!! But I am still growing into my skin. I had a wonderful time on opening night. I wore sneakers with a black silk dress I bought last winter at an op shop. I thought the sneakers might be silly but they felt good and looked good and turns out it was very on trend — I was one of at least twelve other women wearing sneakers and a dress! In attendance was my friend Larissa who made the trek into the city with me. We both liked how wild we looked in the city with our big hair and no makeup, drawn to Albert’s Parks sprawling trees. The Women’s Work collective made me feel welcomed and celebrated. I am very much in admiration of their aim to bring artists and photographers who are often in competition for scarce market resources together to showcase their work. Thanks to Women’s Work for a beautiful night. Next time I will stay in the city for the weekend to attend the workshops and panel.

https://www.womenswork.photography/invisible-exhibitors

Artist Statement for Women’s Work 2025 (In)visible

This photograph was taken opposite the island at Te Kohuroa Matheson Bay, currently the site of community-led conservation run by the Te Kohuroa Rewilding Initiative, working towards kelp reforestation by removing an overabundance of kina.

Working within their female-led team, I can’t help but draw parallels between conservation and caretaking. Much of our labour, underwater or behind the scenes, is invisible, just as a clean home obscures the hours of work that go into keeping it that way. Arrowing down towards the seafloor to gather an armload of kina, I wonder how this work will be quantified at the surface.

This photograph peers through the ocean’s mirrored edge, to frame this ever-changing space at the intersection of observation and ecological dynamism, of women’s work and the caretaking of our ecosystems. This photograph aims to make our labours of caretaking visible.

Mahu East parkland