Washing Day: Variable Oystercatcher

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Variable oystercatchers are distributed across New Zealand and have different colour phases from all black, to smudged black and white front, to all white front. This last phase closely resembles the pied oystercatcher which is also found in Australia, but the boundary between the colours is blurred and the variable oystercatcher lacks the white line between chest and folded wing.

This artwork was created from a photograph taken where the Whareroa Stream cuts through Raumati South Beach to the sea. It is a reminder to me of the moments that hang distilled in time, listening to the pitch-perfect fluting of the oystercatcher’s call.

The surf surges along the shore, embracing water rippling over black sand to meet it. Lined with toheroa and pipi shells the tannin-steeped waters run rapidly to the sea. Sunlight catches droplets as a variable oystercatcher bathes, ruffling its feathers while its mate higher up the bank pitches its haunting call down the length of the monochrome beach.