Play in Place

'Play in Place' is a body of work born from a need to reconnect, recharge, and heal through the living presence of the earth. In Māori understanding, this connection is known as Papatuanuku — the earth mother and source of all life — a relationship that extends beyond geography and recognises our entanglement with all things.
Using gathered materials from the Perth Hills and Waychinicup, including fallen grass tree platelets and sap pigments, the works explore quiet acts of collaboration with country. Objects are respectfully collected, rearranged, and transformed into small sculptures and paintings that acknowledge the equal presence and value of human and non-human forms. Developed in conversation with Noongar Elder Lester Coyne, and grounded in respect for Noongar Boodja, the project reflects ideas drawn from New Materialism and Object-Oriented Ontology. What may appear small or insignificant becomes a way of engaging in dialogue with Te Whenua — the earth — and an antidote to the instability of manipulated contemporary realities