The work: Rowan Giselle, S E 40kn, 2023. 100% cotton paper 640g and pure ultramarine pigment, 70 x 70cm. Courtesy: the artist.
Named for a coastal wind common to her Rakiura/Stewart Island home, S E 40KN by New Zealand-based artist Rowan Giselle is a heartfelt rumination on place. Found off the very southern coast of New Zealand, 95% of Rakiura/Stewart Island is covered by national park, meaning untouched land abutting wild southern seas surround Giselle. The flow of nature is undisturbed, and life is defined by the vagaries and moods of the weather. Giselle is intimately familiar with the winds that blow through towards the bottom of the world, having spent time at sea with the maritime industry, and embodies this specific wind through the use of interwoven paper. S E 40kn is a litany of way points, bound together and charting the bearings of the viewer as they experience the gale – “X marks the spot”, in the words of the artist. Each strand gives strength to those surrounding it, repeating and amplifying the message they convey. The thinner sections seem to blow in the breeze, coming undone as they are buffeted by the gale and drenched in hue as the rain comes in. Giselle honours the elemental power of this phenomenon and charts a course for the viewer to experience it themselves.