Kirsty White…. NZ Printmaker
Celebrating Wellington’s coastline and beyond

Pen drawings are converted into dry point etchings that are then merged with pattern work - inspired by Pacific Island masi and tapa cloth as well as Maori whakairo. The landscapes are often captured in the oval, like an early black and white photograph or surveyors drawing. They are layered within Pacifica or Maori style patterning, enabling me to convey a story and reflecting a sense of the past within a contemporary work.
Story telling through pattern work is common across cultures here in the Pacific. I incorporate it into my art as a way to express that identity. This does not dismiss my European heritage, but seeks to weave together ideas of multiculturalism and embrace the place of New Zealand here in the Pacific, my home.