Explore Local Art at Sudima Queenstown

Intricate and beautifully delicate in form, New Life Forms are inspired by skeleton leaves, seedpods and the hollow vein network in the living cell. Created from woven recycled copper wire, a patina finish onto a charred driftwood base, these works explore the theme of new growth and life, the life cycle, the seasons, plant forms and positive and negative space.

Adjacent to Queenstown Hill, Waipuna is a small relative­ly shallow lake. It was said to be where early Māori cleansed themselves after walking on Te Tapu nui/ Queenstown Hill. Waipuna was were those injured by warring parties would go to receive cleansing and first aid. Simons illustration reflects the shape and move­ment of Waipuna whilst capturing the restorative and cleansing functions it offered.

Generations after Tu Te Rakiwhanoa had sculpted the Waka o Aoraki to let water escape and Rakaihautu had created the lakes a famous ancestor of Ngai Tahu arrived not far from Sudima Queenstown, where the river met the Lake now known as Whakatipu wai Māori. Due to the beauty of Queenstown, he wanted to ensure its mana remained here forever and he achieved this by turning himself into a beautiful mountain and because of his prestige, the river at his feet was also named after him. His name was Kawarau and both the mountain and the river to this day bear his name. Simon's art is a descriptive illustration of both mountain and valley form.

Before European settlement, the Frankton beachfront was known as Te Kirikiri (the gravel shoreline). At the end of the harvesting season Māori would arrive by wooden waka from the head of the lake and spend time there making their much smaller mokihi (rafts made from flax, rushes and raupo), which enabled them to travel down the Kawarau River to the Mata-au Clutha and back to the coast. Simon's illustrative engraved artworks represents the geographic shape and the body of water familiar as Frankton Arm.

Generations after Tu Te Rakiwhanoa had sculpted the Waka o Aoraki to let water escape and Rakaihautu had created the lakes a famous ancestor of Ngai Tahu arrived not far from Sudima Queenstown, where the river met the Lake now known as Whakatipu wai Māori. Due to the beauty of Queenstown, he wanted to ensure its mana remained here forever and he achieved this by turning himself into a beautiful mountain and because of his prestige, the river at his feet was also named after him. His name was Kawarau and both the mountain and the river to this day bear his name. Simon's art is a descriptive illustration of both mountain and valley form.

The brass fittings attached to Karakia represent patterns and shapes affiliated to Māori use of the area. Mountains, fish and water-based food, matariki star and night sky, and hospitality.