For the Te Tuhi Billboards, Vanessa Crofskey has created smoke signals, a series of collaged text images. smoke signals attempts to connect the communities of two countries together, across their cities and skylines, by asking: How are migrants witnessed? How can the transformative elements of smoke inform and mediate our understanding of ourselves?
Migration is a global phenomenon, however Chinese residents and migrants within Aotearoa New Zealand are often seen as ‘unnatural’ or ‘alien’. Representation and embodiment within the landscape can be a mirage. Despite historical relations, Chinese migrants appear as smoke on the horizon rather than a permanent and welcome part of our soil.
Through these works, the artist encourages us to discover the often-overlooked connections that reside within our cultural landscape by drawing the two countries closer together.
Press
→ Crofskey on Reeves Road – EyeContact