For the exhibition Painters As Printmakers (19 October 2007 - 20 January 2008) this work appeared with this label:

In 1984 Ralph Hotere was a visiting artist at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts, where he produced a number of etchings and lithographs in collaboration with several printmakers at the School. Hotere incorporated the use of an angle grinder to mark the surface of the etching plate for this work. At the time, Hotere was also using angle grinders for his stainless steel works in much the same way, creating vibrant, spontaneous and lively marks across the surfaces of both mediums.

Hotere began painting in the 1950s and studied at the Central School of Art, London in 1961. Printmaking in a wide range of mediums has been an important element in his oeuvre since the early 1960s, when he began producing screenprints. Hotere has enjoyed working with lithography in particular, often extending subjects found in his paintings.