At once we are rootless and harbouring, floating on an inland sea (I am from here) Clare Fleming

Suitcases, trees, movers' blankets and sound make up the elements in Clare Fleming's work At once we are rootless and harbouring, floating on an inland sea (I am from here), where she combines the personal with the political.

As someone who lived in many countries while she was growing up, and more recently choosing to settle in New Zealand, Fleming says she struggles with the idea of home and place and in locating where she belongs.

"I am becoming more comfortable in some ways with the idea of not having a place, but there is still the desire to be connected. I think this feeling of placelessness and disconnection is something that most migrants feel, but is also something inherent within the notion of belonging for a citizen of a colonial country like New Zealand," she says.

Fleming's installation will feature suitcase 'boats', with trees made from recycled felt movers' blankets growing through them. A sound component will mix the ocean, violin and her own voice to create a kind of lament.

"A simple question prompted me to make of this work, one that is asked often when meeting someone new: Where are you from? But for me this question creates confusion. I cannot give a simple answer and so this work is an exploration of that feeling," she says.

16 April 2011: Artist Discussion with Clare Fleming and Andy Leleisi'uao

10 April 2011: Discussion Session 19: ‘The Catwalk as Creative Frontline’ with Max Oettli, Emily Hlavac Green, Simon Swale and Emily Goldthorpe

Click to download the exhibition text (PDF)

Presented alongside Andy Leleisi'uao Arytipidal and Colleen Altagracia The Fullness of Empty Pockets