Cairn: Exploring Presence and Place through Reimagined Field Journals

Abstract

This practice-led research project explores a personal reconnection with the landscape of Aotearoa. It takes the form of eight stacked books which become symbolic "stones" within a "paper cairn”, employing the metaphor of a cairn to represent the marking of significant places. Each book implements elements of illustration, photography, and storytelling to evoke a sense of place and create an immersive exploration of a specific location in Aotearoa. Taking cues from the conventions of field journals as a genre of publication, Cairn takes a phenomenological approach to place, concerned with how a personal experience of each location might manifest visually. Woven throughout is an ode to New Zealand’s natural beauty and exploration off the beaten track.