Artist’s Statement

Wordsworth’s practice is one of ‘slow art’, which she describes as providing a quietude, a sanctuary for reflection and introspection. She invites viewers to look beyond the surface and explore boundaries between physical and metaphysical realms. In this body of work, Wordsworth moves beyond the representational form of the land, to explore history and experience of place,. Through the repetitive qualities of her practice, Wordsworth invites viewers to contemplate complexities of belonging.

These works are drawn from her recent MFA studies in which she explored the formation of identity, and the social, geographical and historical factors which contribute to the stratigraphy of the individual, with particular focus on Pākehā history, identity and belonging within Aotearoa. Wordsworth traced her family’s history within Aotearoa and reflected on the extra nuances imbued by fact of her adoption. Identifying and visiting sites significant to her family’s settlement stories, the act of pigment collection from each location necessitated immersion in site and a wondering of the history to which it bore witness.

The multi-layered abstract paintings created from these pigments invite reflection on the interplay of past/present/future, while the use of water-based media allows the pigments to flow, depicting intersecting rivers of consciousness. Each painting becomes a meditation, a place in which to consider the question: ko wai ahau?