Birthright

$900

Geboorterecht (Birthright) A sense of belonging is crucial to our life satisfaction, happiness, mental and physical health. The need to belong to some place, a place we can call home. But as well as being concerned with one’s identity and our place in society there is also the question of birthright. We are all decendants of immigrants, my painting is titled in Dutch ‘Geboorterecht’ meaning Birthright. I am the remnant of Dutch diaspora, I have 100% Dutch bloodline and my lineage dates back to the 16th century and yet I have no birthrights to my parents country as I was born on New Zealand soil, I am classiﬁed as a citizen of New Zealand. My work focuses on my relationship with the past and how I navigate being in this place. As the body of my work has a connection to my road and my journey, it acknowledges Tangata Whenua and the birthright placed within Māoridom. It also depicts my partner who is Japanese, who has gained citizenship and yet she will never give up her birthright in Japan. Symbolised as the Carp (Koi) and myself as the kiwi painted in a contemporary style of the Dutch Delft blue tiles connecting me to my ancestry. New Zealand has become vastly a multicultural society and each has their own claim for birthright. This is my Turangawaewae, it is my place that I stand, my foundation, my place in the world.

Size: 1040mm x 600mm

Medium: Acrylic, Bitumen & Fired Clay

Status: For Sale

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