beautiful monsters

Aue te mamae, te pouri nui

Kei te heke tonu nga roimata moou.

I know that senseless violence occurs. I know that injustice still pervades the world we live in. But it’s still a shock to be confronted with it, to find out how it has impacted on those around me. It still feels as though all the air has been sucked out of me, like the earth is less steady under my feet. It still brings the slow, quiet fall of tears. The malfeasance is a shock, the horror of the cold-hearted cruelty… but also the weaknesses it pushes up from inside me. The apathy, the feelings of helplessness that are so easy to relent to.

I hope that during my life time I will be able to make a difference. I hope I will experience a tangible change for the better.

The artworks and poems in my exhibition deal with themes of injustice, pain, hope and survival. Sometimes I believe that turning the pain into something beautiful, a poem or a painting, makes the world a little bit kinda. Sometimes I fear that is nowhere near enough.

I’m sorry you couldn’t make it on my birthday, e hoa. This is the painting that was inspired by your photograph. This is the glimmer of hope that is always there, even during the darkest night, the deepest despair. You just have to look in the right direction, turn your eyes, turn your ears, hear the korimako welcoming the dawn, see the first flames spreading over the horizon. Tihei mauri ora – always there is life, and where there is life there is hope.

Whiti ora!
Maranga ki runga!
Kia kaha kia manawanui.
Arohanui,
Fi.

Posted by Fionnaigh at July 4, 2003 09:59 PM