Lisa Clunie 2020 Archival Pigment Print edition 1/5 600 x 600mm framed Metamorphosis II was created in response to the Hikurangi Repo (Swamp), located nearby my kāinga. Once vast, and one of the largest wetlands in Aotearoa, the ‘swamp’ or floodplains are now largely drained and modified into farmland. Metamorphosis II is a reflection on transformation and existence. The impact of different value systems that European settlers brought with them regarding the productivity of the land has been long-reaching. We are now facing the realities of these decisions and re-considering the intended functions of wetlands as the kidneys of the earth and important sponges in a complex system of interrelated components. There are many different ways of looking at, being in, and thinking about Te Taiao (the natural environment). Metamorphosis II is just one image created as a larger body of work for the exhibition wet_land shown at the Whangārei Art Museum in 2020. To create this work I had to live, breathe and be swamp for several years of my life. What I gained from this experience was a strong sense of my connection to the environment – natural, cultural, social – and the stories and memories that make somewhere a place rather than just space. As I age and transform in time, I think more about how perceptions of value and productivity may similarly be applied to myself.
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