2024 — ongoing

As part of the 2024 soft shell exhibition Waulking Song, curator Jordan Davey-Emms writes:
”Arielle Walker… has been using soft shell as a studio during the Waulking Song exhibition. Her double-sided loom “whakaruruhau (koanga)” holds two in-progress works, which descend from the top of the shelter-like structure. These pieces continue Walker’s interest in relational, place-based practice and have enabled Walker to experiment with the sonic potential of weaving.

On one side of the loom, wool dyed with winter-foraged hīnau and tānekaha is woven with colours pulled from spring weeds. The weaving is held taut by rocks and uku from Taranaki and Tāmaki Makaurau, which clack together gently with the movement of the heddle stick and shuttle. One day, this weaving might be waulked.

The other side of the loom holds a tī-kōuka-muka-dandelion kupenga spangled with earth, wood, and cellulose pearls. The textiles overlap visually, emerging in conversation with one another.”

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First shown as part of Mending the Kupenga, Te Wai Ngutu Kākā, June–July 2024

Shown as whakaruruhau (koanga), in Waulking Song, soft shell, November–December 2024