Lake Mahinerangi

Lake Mahinerangi

Ko te tinana o te whenua tētehi horopaki mai anō. Ehara au i te kūare ki te whakaaro ka panonitia e haku mahi te paewhenua tōrangapū, erangi ka hangaia e au hei rātaka kōrero e pā ana ki ngā āhuatanga e pā ana ki te whenua i te huringa o te wā, he kātū mahere.

— Nā Marilynn Wedd, 1993 (he whakamāoritanga).

I te tau 1975, ka hokona e Marilyn Wedd tētehi pānga whenua i te roto o Mahinerangi, i waenga i ngā hiwi o Ōtepoti. Ko te roto tonu, i hangaia i te pā wai i te awa o Waipori, i te rautau rua tekau, te kaupapa o hāna tānga.

He mahi kauawhiawhi me te aro pū, te tikanga papawhenua a Webb. Ko te waihanga ki ngā tūkanga tā huhua, ā, ka hua mai i a Webb tētehi tānga tinana wai i roto te huringa o ngā kaupeka me ngā whakairotanga huarere.

Ko te whakaahuatanga a Webb i te whenua, i oho mai i tōna māramatanga ki tōna whakaraeraetanga, me te rongo i te tikanga ki te kaupare i te kuhunga mai o ngā whakawhanaketanga ahumahi. Ka uiuitia a Bridie Lonie mō te Women’s Picture Book (1988), ā, ka mea ia, ‘ka whai wāhi au ki te mahi i hāku mahi papawhenua i te wā e wātea ana te ringatoi e whai whakaaro nui ana ki te oranga o Papatūānuku, me te aha he kaipupuru hoki i tōna mana me hōna kurahuna’.

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The land as body has always been a theme. I’m not so naïve as to think that my work will change the situation of land politics, but I make them as a diary of what is happening to the land during a period of time, a sort of broadsheet.

— Marilynn Webb, 1993

In 1975, Marilynn Webb purchased a plot of land at Lake Mahinerangi, in the hills behind Ōtepoti Dunedin. The lake, which was formed following the damming of the Waipori River in the early 20th century, would become a recurring subject of Webb’s prints.

Webb’s approach to landscape was one of intimacy and attentiveness. Innovating with a variety of printmaking techniques, Webb depicted the body of water among changing a seasons and weather patterns.

Webb’s depiction of land was informed by a deep awareness of its vulnerability, and a sense of duty to protect against the incursion of industrial development. In an interview with Bridie Lonie for the Women’s Picture Book (1988), she states, ‘my land works slot in with the artists who are concerned not only with the survival of planet Earth, but who are also preservers of its dignity and mysteries’.

— Text developed for Te Hau Whakatonu: A Series of Never-ending Beginnings (5 August 2023–11 February 2024), curated by Taarati Taiaroa