Arwen Flowers | Artist
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Ode to the Pohutukawas

26/3/2016

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The old Pohutukawa trees that surround where I have been living during my stay in Piha are a strong presence. I have photographed them in a few different ways since I arrived here - at night, in moonlight, first thing in the morning etc. This afternoon I stumbled upon a combination of afternoon light and an idea I first visited about a year ago - out of focus-ness. And there I had it, what I was after - more of a feeling then a record of details (clearly), but I like these images best, so far.
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EVENT - Artist Residency Talk

15/3/2016

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You are invited to my talk about the photographic and printing processes involved in making my work through this residency. I will offer several pieces for in-depth discussion as well as present a small exhibition of completed pieces.

There will also be a little gentle participation experience, to engage you in considering the act of collecting as a thoughtful process that meets a need for connection with the environment while promoting care for the natural world.

It will be held at the Earthskin premesis. Please walk down to the end of the drive way (exception can be made if required).

Artist: Arwen Flowers
Hosts: Nancy King and Véronique Desmet
www.earthskin.co.nz
Sunday 27 March 2016
​2.00 - 5.00pm
171 Motutara Rd, Muriwai Beach, Auckland

Please accept the event invitation on facebook or RSVP to kiwiartist@gmail.com
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My artistic workflow

9/3/2016

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I'm really happy with my progress this week, so I thought I would share an example of how one of the first pieces was made...
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First I use the Gelliplate to create the top half in colour using foliage from around where I am staying. I try to pick plants that relate to the subject.
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I have done an edition of 3 when doing Van Dyke Brown prints (so far), but the finals are all still very different from each other as the monotypes can't be replicated - each print is a one-off.
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The transparency is taped to the glass and after coating my paper with Van Dyke Brown emulsion, which I made a few weeks ago, I sandwich the sensitised paper between the transparency, glass and heavy board (while in my makeshift darkroom). This is called contact printing and the image is the same size as the transparency negative. It takes between 5-15 minutes to expose this print in sunlight, depending on how much cloud cover there is. I haven't made any on darker days.
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I then rinse it in water, fix with 'Hypo' and rinse/soak again in water. I repeat all this for each image till I have done all three. Then they need to be rinsed gently in flowing water so that's where the next step comes in...
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The prints are basically clean, but this step ensures they won't fade (well anything will if you leave it in the sun long enough so don't put art work in direct sunlight ok?). The handy little stream is just the right depth for my basin and the holes in the handles allow the water to flow around the prints without the lot getting over-flooded. I put a couple of rocks in the bottom and made a bit of a dam to make perfectly sure they don't float away (it rocks). 15 minutes in here while I go for a walk...
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Once rinsed the print is dried flat under tea towels and weighted to help it dry flat as possible. Then I hand-colour to get the final look I want.

This print was all about the yellow bowl and is called 'Catching Hymenoptera'. Hymenoptera are ants, bees, wasps etc. and diptera are flies. The yellow bowls are mainly used by those in the Natural Sciences for collecting small parasitic wasps of which some are native to New Zealand.
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A beginning, Natural Sciences and the practice of collecting

7/3/2016

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'A coherent and synonymised checklist of names enables the integration of studies from disparate sources, further enriching our understanding of the world’s biodiversity.'
Source: http://www.catalogueoflife.org/content/about#2

I have settled in to my residency space at the Waygood Foundation in Piha. It’s not hard to feel connected to nature here. I’m in a small dwelling nestled in among old Pohutukawa trees (Metrosideros Excelsa) with a distant view of the ocean from the lengthy wrap-around balcony. As well as picking produce from the rambling gardens - choosing from edible weeds, herbs, vegetables and some fruit, I can thoughtfully contribute to the worm farm and composting while I stay.

I’ve begun thinking about how to put information and media together into something that makes ‘art’ sense. I’ll be spending time on the laptop making digital negatives, indulging in a bit of plant collecting, photographing the landscape at large and in detail and I also need to think about how I want to combining printed Monotypes with an alternative photographic process.

Yesterday I visited the Auckland Museum for a one-on-one well guided tour through some of the Natural Sciences’ specimen collections, that are kept in large part for research study. When Auckland Museum was first established it would only open one day a week, now the Herbarium itself gains an additional 5000 plant specimens a year and 3000 new insects are added too. The room to store everything is diminishing - there are cabinets and storage closets in the hallways. Fewer bird samples are processed each year as no active collecting has been allowed for many decades. 

There is amazing variety in the way things are prepared for storage - taxidermied, freeze dried, pressed, aired and soaked. There is also wide variation in how they are finally stored - wet in alcohol, mounted on acid-free pages, in open cabinet trays, under glass in boxes, under glass domes, standing mounts, wall mounted and in acid free cardboard boxes.
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Not many of the processing and storage methods have changed a lot since the late 1800’s, but the ability to control humidity and temperature has helped to preserve the life of most of the pieces. Many items in the Museum's bird and insect collection should last hundreds of years. This lengthy amount of time helps to study species change.

Some of the collections have been re-numbered 10+ times and not all collections use the same numbering systems, which can be problematic. There are specimens that have missing data making them useless for serious study. But they do make good pass-around items for curious kids.
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I have to give credit to the Auckland Museum’s collections and staff for providing me with a huge amount of material that I can use. They are currently working hard to digitize both the records and images of every specimen kept. That’s a lot of work. If you’re keen to look at the collections online, be prepared to learn your Latin names to find what you’re after.
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The cicadas sing all day
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The view from my balcony south over the tree tops
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Agathis Australis (Kauri foliage). Collected from Kauri Gully, Northcote by Thomas Cheeseman, who in 1874 was appointed Secretary of the Auckland Institute and Curator of the recently founded Auckland Museum
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Study skins of Anthus Novaezealandiae, one example was collected March 1887
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    Arwen Flowers

    I am very pleased to be participating in a 5 week Earthskin Creative Residency located at the Waygood Foundation in Piha, Auckland, New Zealand.

    This diary aims to document the process, in the hopes that my explorations can encourage and inspire.

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ARWEN FLOWERS – KIWIARTIST