This show gave visitors a unique opportunity to view 2016/2017 works by  the then 88 year old established artist, Daphne Mason, whose career spanned over 50 years. Drawn from her Compositions series, begun in 2013, these are highly structured and rigorous works in which Daphne challenges herself through the juxtaposition of colour and form.

The title of the exhibition refers to Daphne’s sense of responsibility as kaitiaki, or guardian of her conservation block north of Auckland, in the face of rapidly encroaching land development in the area. In the 70’s, the late Ngati Maniapoto leader Dr Pei Te Hurinui Jones JP OBE, a friend of her husband’s, suggested the name “Whenuakura” (sacred or red land) for the block Daphne had recently acquired. It is this land, & its birdlife, threatened yet still protected, that inhabits these works.