Nic Moon
Old cross-cut saws
Nic Moon was born in Auckland and graduated from Canterbury
University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990. Nic's work brings
together aspects of human and environmental history, looking for
clues in this relationship that address contemporary issues of
survival. Monument is a circle of old logging saws
incised with the leaf skeleton and vein patterns from native
plants. This transformation of relics from our land-clearing
history pays tribute to the individuals and communities who plant
and care for regenerating native forests and in particular, the
work of Don Chapple, and his community of friends and supporters
who gathered, sorted, planted and tended the seeds that are now the
forest of Te Atawhai Whenua Reserve, itself a living monument. The
saw-blades form a contemporary gathering place in the style of
ancient stone monuments of the late Neolithic and early Stone Age
periods.
Moon says: 'While working with old saw blades a number of
questions have arisen for me: What if these tools held a resonance,
like tissue memory, of the living trees they have cut and the
ecosystems they have impacted upon over the years? What would that
memory look like? How would these tools be affected? I think of
them as artefacts of a new era, an era of reforestation. They
celebrate the spirit of kaitiakitanga and the patterns acknowledge
the indigenous ecology of Aotearoa, and the wisdom of planting seed
that is sourced locally.'
Nic Moon was born in Auckland and graduated from Canterbury
University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990. She began her
career as a painter and shifted her focus to sculpture and
installation completing a Masters Degree at RMIT University,
Melbourne in 2002.
Nic has been awarded the William Hodges Fellowship for 2009.
Recent projects include the Connells Bay Temporary Installation
Project and the ARC Artist in the Parks residency.
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