Ōhinehou Lyttelton artist Bill Hammond sailed south from Aotearoa New Zealand to the subantarctic Maungahuka Auckland Islands in 1989. The islands are rich with an abundance of birds and diverse flora, and the experience left a lasting impression. Hammond began to imagine how Aotearoa may have looked before humans arrived, painting evocative, ghostly landscapes dominated by bird-people. This painting has connections to Ōhinehou, Matuku-takotako Sumner, Te Raekura Redcliffs and Horomaka Banks Peninsula. A large tree stump alludes to the destruction of forests across Aotearoa, reinforcing Hammond’s ongoing concern with the fragility of our natural environment and species loss. In the 800 years that humans have occupied Aotearoa, seventy percent of our indigenous landcover has been lost and more than 100 species of plants and animals have become extinct. Most extinctions have been birds, with Aotearoa losing almost half of its known species. Currently seventy-five percent of indigenous reptile, bird, bat and freshwater fish species are at risk of extinction.

He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)