Kerry Ann Lee is a visual artist from Wellington who uses hand-made processes and socially-engaged projects to explore hybrid identities and histories of migration. For this commissioned project, Lee continues her interest in the relationship between craft, identity and place by drawing upon the specialist craft knowledge and legacies associated with West Auckland. The Learning Centre gallery is re-imagined as a whimsical garden – a space loaded with concepts of home and belonging. Here, visitors are invited to create a pot plant with handmade flowers made from twigs and paper. The simplicity of the invitation belies its endless experimentation; what can a vessel look like? How many different ways can you make a flower or plant? What else might grow, or take shape?
In prying open the possibilities of form, the project makes space for different forms of material knowledge to come to the fore. Over the course of the project, Te Uru and Kerry Ann Lee will develop public programmes that further connect with local makers who specialise in the various mediums of wood, clay and paper. Somewhat paradoxically, then, by encouraging a sprawl of creative growth, Lee also sparks a recognition of locally-rooted expertise.