Shifting is made from bricks found along the beaches of Wellington’s south coast. Once part of unknown structures, these terracotta fragments have been rounded by the waves of Te Moana-o-Raukawa/Cook Strait, becoming soft imposter-rocks among shells and stones. Their origins are ambiguous — formed from this land, yet shaped by colonial ideals of permanence and construction. Now broken and returned to the shoreline, they carry layered meanings: cultural remnants, geological witnesses, and metaphors for Pākehā/Tauiwi identity. Their transformation by unseen storms and tides reflects the ongoing processes that shape place, both natural and cultural.
The title Shifting invites reflection on the elements that move and remake Te Whanganui-a-Tara: tectonic plates, winds, tides, time, identity. Just as bricks build walls, layers of shifting material build a sense of place. What stories emerge when those structures erode? What else can be built from what remains?
