Can you imagine? Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, have lost their dear Jesus. They’re heartbroken and, as the Sabbath has ended, they buy spices and plan ‘a last Haere Ra.’ But things didn’t go exactly to plan, as Mark 16:1-8 tells us, in fact their plans are ‘thwarted.’ I can imagine the intense fear that struck them and caused them to bolt. It must’ve taken a while for any clarity of the event to come about.
In a sense the event would have been as intense as my experience of the February 2011 Christchurch Earthquake. Stricken by fear, unclear of what is happening and confused. Then there’s the aftermath, dealing with what has happened, making sense of it all. I wanted my piece to express this emotion through the woman fleeing.
My piece is influenced by my Whakapapa and draws on ancient Ngai Tahu cave drawings for inspiration. There’s also an obvious Aotearoa and Pacific flavour throughout.