Die Mauer im Kopf / The Wall in the Mind

Birgit Moffatt

2024
Paper
1000mm x 300mm (variable)

Moments of new Beginnings. Each of my works in this exhibition serves as a starting point for a conversation about place and how connections to place can form and shape identity. Born and raised in East Germany, a country that no longer exists and living in Aotearoa, my adopted home, I feel an innate urge to explore concepts of whenua/land and what belonging to a place means to me.

I primarily used paper for my works, a medium that is culturally familiar, evokes a sense of home and that gives me the freedom to explore my ideas without boundaries. I have repurposed the idea of cobblestones (Pflasterstein), that represent the urban whenua of East Berlin. Some are originals, foraged from the streets of my home town, others are imitations made of paper. Some of the works are combined with natural elements from Aotearoa: muka (the fibre of harakeke), rocks and sand, depicting my interconnection and appreciation of both: the familiar and the new.

About Birgit

There are many ways to connect – in my work the physicality of the making brings me into the dialogue with the world. Living in a rural setting on the Kāpiti Coast, I have built my art practice around creating work that is rooted in the natural world. In my studio I transform foraged elements, such as harakeke, bark, leaves or seed pods into sculptural objects or installations using traditional and contemporary weaving techniques. Through my work I aim to convey ideas of identity, place, belonging and self-discovery: peeling back the layers to reveal my true nature and find my place in Aotearoa.