Hidden gems are the treasures found by looking deeper, be it in the lush, soul-filled terrain of Aotearoa or iridescent swirls of an opal. 
This dual exhibition courtesy of Cesar Cueva and Fealofani Elisara celebrates the astonishing beauty of the celestial and terrestrial, both transcendent and formative in an endless cycle of creation, destruction and transformation.
BLACK POWDER by CESAR CUEVA
Black Powder is the ignition that propels a firework into the sky.
Viewing a sequence of fireworks against the curvature of the sky consistently leaves me in a state of wonderment.
Similarly, every time I view an Opal I feel an exciting sense of astonishment, as if seeing colour for the first time: I embark on a voyage of discovery. The swirls, spirals and spray of iridescent colours produced by a precious Opal are at once dazzling, shimmering and glittering. 
Capturing the optical phenomenon in the play of colour of an Opal in a still image is like trying to seize the spectral states of a starburst galaxy or the light emitted from black holes.
It is this unearthliness I hope will return a viewer to a state of curiosity and awe.

 

WAIRUA by FEALOFANI ELISARA
After honouring her Samoan ancestry with TAUALUGA in 2023, Fealofani Elisara now pays homage to the lush green landscape of her birthplace Aotearoa (New Zealand) with her latest jewellery collection WAIRUA, in the 2nd of this five year series.
WAIRUA is the Maori word for ‘a living soul’, where both the land and soul breathe as one.
Inspired by the elements of nature that nurtured her imagination as a young child, Fealofani has written a poem called WAIRUA. 
The name of each jewellery piece has been lovingly weaved into the tapestry of her words, where this collection is Fealofani’s love letter to the healing energy of nature and the mana (power) of the Maori people.