Ārai, to obstruct, to veil, to shield, to hinder.

Ārai centres my experience of being a child with chronic nightmares and the interconnection of one’s wairua (spirit) and direct real-world encounters, while applying this concept to an experiential based installation.

A curtain is the protector, similar in a child’s mind to a blanket or door, something that blocks out the bad and contains your light. Using this idea, I chose to create a series of curtains that confine the link between suffering and reflection, slumber and wake, dawn and dusk, life and death.

Exploring the use of natural fibres helped to deeply create a connection to my whakapapa. The harakeke literally and metaphorically is holding the piece together. Representing the way my whanau has always been my glue.

The beads that are strung are my diary pages, explicitly detailing my nightmares and how they affected my life. Tightly rolled to encapsulate the words and feelings within them, while still having an outward skin that has legible words, letting you peak just enough into my mind.

Ārai, to me, is purgatory. A state of in-between that we are now all in together once you walk through.