Wellington artist Caroline McQuarrie grew up on the West Coast of the South Island and had long been interested in the history of the region. Over the last three years, she has been researching and visiting sites where communities sprung up around gold or coal, and have since vanished as the resources ran out.
No Town explores these West Coast sites that used to be towns but are no longer or only sparsely inhabited. McQuarrie has photographed the sites, highlighting the domestic and community aspects of the history of the sites. Embroidered samplers give context to the photographs, incorporating maps, statistics, poems and quotes from contemporary newspapers.
Image: Caroline McQuarrie. Remains of private residence, Denniston, January 2013 (detail)