Carnival Land, is a richly illustrated graphic novel developed for my Masters in Art
and Design at AUT (Auckland University of Technology). The graphic novel tells the story
of a young girl who immigrates to a fictional Carnival Land.

This artistic, practice-led PhD thesis is concerned with the potentials of polyvocality and interactive digital narrative. The practical project, Saints of Paradox, is formatted as a printed picture book that can be expanded through the use of AR (Augmented Reality) technology. The story concerns a woman who after 40 years in mourning at the loss of her lover in the 1964 Brazilian coup d’état, lives in a room of accumulated memories. One day when the only photograph of her lover breaks, it sets in train a series of strange events.

Threaded is an international design magazine. Special Ed.21: The Te Pō & Te Ao Mārama Issue draws from cultural and collaborative frameworks situated in tikanga Māori (Māori customary practices), mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and kawa (Māori protocols). Sonic artistry and augmented reality (AR) are activated through printed motifs and incorporate hau (breath of life) into the pages. Sound design was vital to creating a connection with the end-user that when synthesised with augmentation provides a deep connection and sense of immersion. The sonic palette provides people a way of engaging and exploring Mātauranga Māori that is positioned around the unseen and that which is felt aurally and visually.

I created Vivian’s world imbued with knowledge gained from research in palliative care literature from Te Arai research group (School of Nursing — Auckland University). While Vivian is no woman’s particular story, she represents how gender can affect every woman at the end of their lives. The illustrations were constructed as a printed picture book, but also available online as a downloadable PDF.

The photographic and virtual exhibition ‘Rapua te Marama – Whanau reflections on life and death during COVID-19 Lockdown’ shares intimate whanau stories about end of life and loss during COVID-19 Lockdown. The exhibition showcases 25 whānau, 17 funeral directors, 21 health professionals and two community leaders about dying, tangihanga and bereavement during COVID-19 Lockdown. The project was showcased in a printed book with photographs and purakau stories and in a virtual reality exhibition.

Main investigator: Tess Moeke-Maxwell
Creative arts team: Dr Lisa Williams (project manager), Tatiana Tavares (art director and book designer), Ali Taheri (interactive virtual exhibition)

Commissioned artwork for a farewell-gift to Frances Valintine, the CEO of Media Design School. The harlequin’s collar expresses majesty and the abilities of a leader while the new land of infinite possibilities is represented in the chair where Frances can reach her highest aspirations with the elegance, poise and far-reaching stretch of the ballerina.

Stir is 100% not milk. It’s versatile and provides an alternative to cow milk. Originally marketed in New Zealand, it has reached Australian and US markets. Branding and packaging design (box and sachets) for turmeric chai latte, flat white, hot chocolate and cappuccino.

The saying Ko Wai Ko Au Ko Au Ko Wai – I am water, water is me is a Te Reo Māori (Maaori Language) expression frequently used to suggest the strong Maaori relationship with Kaupapa Moana (Ocean), Kaupapa Wai Maaori (Fresh Water) and Kaupapa Awa (Rivers). The publication is a collection of artistic explorations from Y3 students from AUT University.

Design and Editor: Tatiana Tavares / Assistance Editor: Jessica Kate Tweed / Copywriters: Natalie Roberston, Jessica Tweed, Regina Halter, Jessica Kate Tweed / Production: Blurb.com

I was invited to work in a research topic with Dr. Lisa Williams, a creative writer with a doctorate in philosophy from AUT. Initially, the research delved into the life of Ruth Busch and identify ties and relationships to the German fairytale of Hansel and Gretel. Though her parents migrated earlier to the US from eastern Czechoslovakia in December 1939 – months after Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler at Munich –, Ruth’s family perished in the Holocaust when she was three years old. The story is based in the traditional Hansel & Gretel recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812.

Saints of Paradox considered the formative design of three narrators in the polyvocal short film. The installation explored character, sound and imagery as potential depictions of syncretic religious entities who operate inside the context of realism maravilhoso. The exhibition consisted of 3 screens projected in a white room along one wall, each containing a potential narrator’s portrait and a set of designed cards. Each portrait was made up of synchronised sound, image and animation. Sound designer: Maree Sheehan.
Saints of Paradox Installation — Gallery 3 St Pauls Street, Auckland, NZ, January 2017

Campaign for Sustainable Coastlines ‘What goes around comes around’ displayed in bus shelter in Auckland CBD, Rotorua and some areas of South Island in New Zealand.

Common Ground was designed as the written component of a Master of Philosophy thesis for the filmaker Mairi Gun. The research explored the common connection to land between certain New Zealand Māori and Highlanders in Scotland. The ideas underpinning the design were related to six landscape video projections, exhibited as the creative component.