J U S T   A   L I T T L E   S P I L L

Meliors Simms

exhibition January 25- February 21

In 2010 I watched the devastation of the Deep Water Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico with horror and grief. I responded, as I could, as I do, by stitching. I made a series of small works interpreting images of oil on water and beaches. Many of these works were shown in Imagining Antarctica, at ArtsPost in  August 2011 to express my fear of what devastation such an oil spill could wreck on the pristine environment of Antarctica.

My response to the  MV Rena grounding at in the Bay of Plenty in 2011 was just as horrified and even sadder, though the scale of the oil spill was tiny compared to the Gulf. From my nearby perspective the Rena spill loomed  large in my psyche and my stitching went oversized in response.  I  worked on Just a Little Spill for six months until I ran out of grey blankets and it was too big to unroll in my studio.

It is now over a year after Rena  wrecked. The media images of oil on beaches ceased long ago but the impact on Bay of Plenty's ecosystem and economy carry on.  The Rena spill was just a taste of the distaster which could occur on a much larger scale if deep water drilling were to go ahead, and go wrong, in New Zealand waters.  I want my 'little' hand stitched oil spill to remind people that we need to stand strong against the threat of future oil spills.

Meliors Simms artist statement 24 January 2013