The Temple of Potential Te Puna o Aio

Although we are all interconnected, we cannot connect to anything if we are disconnected from our own spiritual reality. My challenge is to create an installation that presents the reality of spirituality within a contemporary Maori context.

A context that includes the social, political and spiritual realities of our time. A place of primordial connection to our spirit. A physical space that symbolises non physical reality. A place we carry within that connects us to a multidimensional intelligence. A place that holds our potential to grow. The light that photosynthesises unknown into known. It's an artwork that symbolises a place of self identification with our spirit.

The Temple of Potential is five circles that fit within each other - the largest circle with an 8000 mm diameter. The five circles hang like a chandelier, with a series of artworks that represent universal symbols, the natural elements, sacred geometry and primordial power. The centre circle represents humanity's primordial point of connection.

This artwork is my attempt to locate a physical space for non physical connection. A temple of direct personal connection to oneself. Designed to support the idea that we all are born with a spirit that is connected to a multidimensional reality. This temple is a symbolic creation to intensify the reality of our spirit.

This project is part of my Masters of Philosophy (MPHIL), which is a practicing Masters in Art and Design at AUT (Auckland University of Technology). This involves a 10,000 word research paper and an artwork. My thesis is research into the Spirit or Wairua within a contemporary Maori Art context. My research method is Indigenous auto-ethnographic.

"Grounded within a resistance based discourse, indigenous auto ethnography aims to address issues of social justice and to develop social change by engaging indigenous researchers in rediscovering their own voices ... the desire to ground ones sense of self in what remains sacred to us as indigenous peoples in the world we live and the way we choose to construct our identity, as Maori." (Paul Whitinui)

Your generous donations will help me to build the chandelier structure from which the art hangs, as well as cover the costs of materials to create artworks, including painting, design, lighting, music and performance. The work must be ready for exhibition at the end of February 2018 - together we can bring my vision to life.

Thanks for your support.