Project Title: Diminished Returns (Trauma and Rebirth)

Location:

The Arts Centre

Description:

Dark Ballad’s haunting woodcut ‘tablets’ reflect on Ōtautahi, utilizing the gothic aesthetic of the city as a starting point to reveal ideas about our long and recent histories, from the impact of colonialism to the earthquakes’ destruction. Inspired by traditions of European woodblock printing, the finely detailed works are also uniquely local, using Te Reo in place of the Latin or English phrasing, reflecting the local narrative and the artist’s own Ngāi Tahu heritage. The artist utilises the poetic descriptive quality of Reo to draw the viewer into a more evocative experience. The tablets are ominous and striking, intricately detailed and evocative, positioned in a quiet reflective space within the iconic Arts Centre, where sweeping change and historical lineage are equally evident. Inviting viewers to experience the works in isolation, where solitude is a vital part of the encounter, the works are thoughtful and affecting, highlighting the ability of small works to have a big impact.

The three pieces tell the story of Ōtautahi from colonization, through the earthquakes, and finally evoking the city in its current form, half destroyed, half rebuilt, the rubble and gravestones representing the loss and trauma it took to get here. The Reaper figure is not simply a metaphor for death and destruction, but also for change, as it is often used in tarot. The figure appears in each of the tablets, marking a new era like a harbinger of change for the landscape.

The first tablet, Tāmitanga, refers to ‘oppression’ and in this case ‘colonization’, the Reaper standing atop the remains of Māori carvings and marae carvings as he overlooks a landscape filled with European Catholic architecture, devoid of any of the native buildings or structures that came before. His cross sceptre further emphasises the impact of colonisation and religion on Tangata Whenua.

The second tablet, Rū Whenua, the shaking of the land, evokes the damage and drastic change the earthquakes brought upon the city. The Reaper walks into a dilapidated gothic building reminiscent of the Cathedral leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. The pristine colonial landscape he oversaw in the first tablet is crumbling, overtaken by nature.

The third and final tablet, Pāmamae (trauma or grief) reflects upon the lasting effects and generational trauma of the first two tablets. The Reaper once again overlooks the landscape littered with rubble and ruins. There are reminders of loss and change throughout in the form of destroyed buildings and graves. In the distance, what was once traditional Maori architecture followed by colonial buildings is now a gentrified skyline of plain, blocky generic looking buildings. The "KP" tag represents the street art which has flourished in the city since the earthquakes.

Bio:

Dark Ballad (@dark_ballad) is increasingly visible throughout Ōtautahi, combining an array of material approaches with a distinctive thematic approach that is both intriguing and unsettling. Graduating from Ara, Dark Ballad is a multi-disciplinary artist who utilizes a range of techniques, most noticeably printmaking, to create works that find new homes in the urban environment.