Claim to Clay was a joint exhibition between painter Joanna Fieldes and ceramic artist Fran Maguire www.franmaguire.co.nz   at the   Auckland Botanic Gardens, Visitor Centre Huakaiwaka, 102 Hill Road, Manurewa, Auckland. 

15th November 2010 - 9th January 2011.

Joanna Fieldes – artist statement

As an artist, I see paint as a way to articulate my thoughts and ideas about the land and society I live in. My paintings are a vehicle for stimulating conversation with the viewer about issues that affect us all, particularly the role of New Zealand’s colonial past and what impact that has on today and into the future.

There is a strong element of storytelling in these scenes, which juxtapose the ‘imported’ with the “indigenous.” The recurrent use of ceramic vessels and the mix of colonial and Maori iconography draws from my own vividly experienced childhood in rural New Zealand, a love of our flora and travel through our wild native landscape, deeply held memories and consuming interests.

I am ever mindful of those early settlers - including my own direct ancestors – whose attempt to re-create a “Little England” on these shores, has become part of our colonial history. They came to settle; farm and garden, and some to even preach Christianity, bringing with them the seeds of our future.