Description:

Inspired by a 1989 guidebook, 'The Beautiful Escape' is an artist book that invites you on a journey through the stunning landscapes of the Remutaka Forest Park. Through countless tramps to the area, I discovered a wilderness richer than any photograph could convey. Using traditional illustration techniques, this book weaves together 30 original artworks, combined with poetry and location notes, to convey the felt experience of this beautiful place.

My design project aims to capture the lived experience of exploring the Remutaka Forest Park, whilst celebrating Aotearoa's native flora and fauna through the medium of acrylic paint. Each painting is based on a memory from one of my many tramps to the area, following a journey from the beginning of the Catchpool car park, along the Ōrongorongo Track and out to where the river meets the sea. In my early research, I explored auto-ethnography, which centralises the artist or researcher in crafting creative narratives shaped out of one's personal experiences within a culture, and addressed to varied audiences.

The final book is case bound using high-quality matte paper, chosen to showcase my paintings' subtle details and textures. The book features a gate-fold that opens out to honour Aotearoa's tallest native tree, Kahikatea, and on pages that focus on bringing out the detail of our natural world, my own poems are placed alongside to assist in the storytelling. I also created an 'Index of Paintings,' a detailed glossary towards the end of the book that grounds my artistic renditions of the Remutaka Forest Park in reality. Drawing from Department of Conservations resources, this index helps readers identify exactly which native birds, plants, and locations they're seeing in each piece.

In these paintings, which span over 80 hours of work, I endeavour to capture the beauty of nature, focusing on details that often go unnoticed in our busy lives. My numerous tramps through the ethereal landscapes of the Remutaka Forest Park have enriched my creative practice and inspired me to memorialise these moments in paint. Through these works, I invite you to take a moment, and appreciate the beauty of our natural world.