“Aroha Mai, Aroha Atu" a Maori proverb meaning "Love received, love returned".
The series challenges ideas we have about our body that we've interpreted or heard from media and people around us.
I asked my subject - my daughter - to think of an action she enjoys and relates to the 5 senses of sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch. This gave us a way to connect the body to everyday actions. And I then created environmental portraits of her celebrating these.
This project forms part of my collection of work exploring people, culture, different ways of thinking and interactions within our communities. I hope to start conversations among wāhine and whānau around how we model positive body talk. How often do we hear things like, “You're looking really good' - it rolls so easily off the tongue of most people I know. We learn from a young age that how you look, matters. We can't shelter our kids from people placing emphasis on appearance, but we can change conversations and internal dialogues. We can teach them to nurture moments that shape a bigger picture in adulthood. We can teach them to build resilience, body confidence and the self-assurance - expose negative messages we consume through the media and our communities.
Aroha Mai, Aroha Atu. Love received, love returned.
