ECHO (2024)
Digital collage, sublimation printed on silk-feel synthetic fleece, 2000x1500mm, edition of 1.
- First shown in To Live + Die in South Auckland (2024), an exhibition made for Fresh Gallery Ōtara
This work is made in response to Galbraith Building that houses the birthing unit, maternity wards and gynaecological care unit at Middlemore Hospital.
“It’s where I’ve birthed babies, lost my son, cared for my daughter in her first week of life, and been cared for after surgeries. It’s a place where I’ve literally experienced life and death, been held and cared for by the most amazing nurses and doctors, where I’ve seen and experienced the deepest extremes of love, grief and despair.”
The work includes a mirrored image of the artist, aged two, and an aerial photograph by Jeff Banube for National Geographic of Vietnamese fishing boats being burned by the Palauan government as a means to deter illegal fishing in Palauan waters.
For Tavola, Banube’s iconic photograph represents the fierce protection indigenous Pacific Island people have for their lands, seas and all living things within those ecosystems. It also captures the powerful forces of water and fire momentarily co-existing. Smoke is a cleanser in many spiritual practices; burning is a powerful means of renewal.
The term ‘echo’ refers to motherhood; through the practice of mothering, we see how we were mothered. Motherhood is an opportunity to change, break, evolve and heal in order to alter the ways the next generation learns to live and love.
“My experience of motherhood is a complex amalgamation of diamonds and drama, fire and water. I am parenting my daughter at the same time as I am re-parenting myself. The term ‘echo’ also responds to the power of caregiving in spaces like Middlemore Hospital; when we are treated with dignity, respect and care, we see ourselves as worthy of those things. Unfortunately, the opposite also applies.”
This work is dedicated to the hardworking staff – past, present and future – of Middlemore Hospital’s Birthing Unit, Maternity Wards and Gynaecological Care Unit.
vasemaca tavola 