Tapu Te Ranga Marae: An Illustrative Three-Part Series
Three Final Works:
Left: Kaitiakitanga, Middle: Marae's Proverb, Right: A Work In Progress
The brief for this project was to create an innovative illustration work that explores, interrogates, and enlightens an audience on the lesser-known stories about a site of significance in Wellington, New Zealand. The aim of this project was to develop critical thinking and practice-based research into innovative visual storytelling and literacy within illustration.
The Wellington site I researched for this project was Manawa Karioi, the nature reserve in Island Bay that sits on the same land where the Tapu Te Ranga Marae used to be. I started my research by visiting the site and going along the main walking track before beginning my online research, where I found a lot of interesting historical background information about the land and the marae.
Site Photos & Objects from the Site
The video documentary, Tapu Te Ranga Marae: a documentary, directed by Vanessa Patea and produced by Ruth Korver, informed my illustrations immensely. This documentary featured many of the historical photos used for the collages, as well as the text that guided each illustration.
Artists that strongly inspired the works were Monica Canilao, Xin Cheng, and Adam Ben-Dror. Canilao’s portrait series which explores concepts of home, community, and history while using recycled materials influenced the work significantly, as I have been exploring similar themse whilst using similar materials. The Making Like A Forest works by Xin Cheng and Adam Ben-Dror influenced my work as it helped me to gain a deeper and more nuanced perspective of the site.
Left: Portrait Series by Monica Canilao
Middle: Cathedral, Bierstadt with Holes, and Chest of Drawers (Early American) with Woodpecker by Valerie Hegarty
Top Right: Making Like A Forest by Xin Cheng & Adam Ben-Dror
Bottom Right: Material Cycles, Do-ocracy & Care | a conversation with Gilly Karjevsky, Xin Cheng
Middle: Cathedral, Bierstadt with Holes, and Chest of Drawers (Early American) with Woodpecker by Valerie Hegarty
Top Right: Making Like A Forest by Xin Cheng & Adam Ben-Dror
Bottom Right: Material Cycles, Do-ocracy & Care | a conversation with Gilly Karjevsky, Xin Cheng
For my final works, I tested my media by looking into different printmaking methods, collaging methods, and how I used different found materials. I decided to go in a printmaking-collage direction to illustrate my final works as I felt it represented the aspects of reusing materials to build in an unconventional way, the regrowth of the natural plant life, and the history that is embedded into all of it.
First explorations: Mixed media using paint, pencil, pen, crayon. Printmaking using leaves from the site and other found materials. Sculpture using found material.
Further exploration: Playing with a combination of found materials, natural materials from the site, printmaking of historic photographs, and printmaking with materials in one piece. Photos of experimenting with turps release in printmaking. More collage experimentation.
Workbook: https://www.are.na/sophie-hansen/innovations-in-illustration-flzqj8gf6ru
This project was completed in 2022.
