This is a personal project – partly the result of my joy for making stuff – and partly the meditations of a curious mind. But it’s also a step of courage – to share with others, at the risk of criticism and censure.

It’s not remarkable to say that IMAGES and WORDS work well together, we’ve known this since the dawn of time. But interesting things happen when we play with the symbiotic relationship that exists between them. Content found here explores how playing with IMAGES + WORDS (and their amalgamated stories) might help us to find fresh perspectives.

This creation journey included many conversations with friends. A notable outtake from these conversations was the recurring phrase: “I saw the image, then I read the words, then I saw the image differently.” To those friends who contributed their time and insights – thank you!

LENS

We each carry a world-view, which guides our individual perceptions – in the spirit of honest disclosure, ideas expressed here apply a contemporary Christian lens. And in stating this, please know that even this topic is open for healthy engagement.

Kind regards, Rob (creator of Wairua.art)

Simply put: This is a playful experiment using IMAGES + WORDS (and their amalgamated stories) to uncover interesting and fresh perspectives.

To curate the collections offered here, I’ve drawn a little from Maori culture by adopting the word WAIRUA as a foundation.

Briefly, Wairua describes our human capacity to have faith and to recognise the links between us and others and the surrounding world. It doesn't necessarily point to having a religious belief, although this might be an important part of one's spirituality.

Furthermore, Wairua has been referred to as the living soul which includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves.

Building on this, the thing we call ART (which embraces images, music, poetry and a myriad of creative activities) traverses what’s going on in the human mind… thoughts, emotions, hopes, and needs. It’s useful to think of such art-encounters as a journey… so with this in mind, please enjoy the excursion.