Shift of Tides is a performance I co-devised and perform alongside the incredible Pipi-Ayesha Evans. Together, we embarked on a deeply embodied and exploratory creative journey, drawing from a rich blend of physical theatre practices including Viewpoints, Butoh, Improvisation, Suzuki, and Contact Dance. Our aim was to craft a work that is both visceral and poetic- rooted in the body’s ability to express what words often cannot.

The piece began to take shape during an incubator residency at Viewfinder Window Gallery in Whakatū Nelson. The gallery’s unique architecture - with its two large windows and divided spaces - became a central part of our creative inquiry. We used the physical separation and transparency of the windows to explore themes of distance, connection, and transformation.

Our process was non-linear and intuitive. Viewpoints helped us navigate spatial relationships and composition, while Butoh allowed us to access internal landscapes and emotional depth. Suzuki training grounded us in physical discipline and presence, and through Contact Dance and Improvisation, we generated material organically - trusting the moment, each other, and the space.

Thematically, Shift of Tides emerged from our shared exploration of life’s cyclical nature - birth, death, memory, and renewal. We moved through the liminal spaces between presence and absence, joy and sorrow, using movement as a language to express the fluid and unpredictable transitions that shape our human experience.

We shared the first public showings of the work in July 2025 as part of the Viewfinder residency. The response was powerful and affirming. Audience feedback from those early performances has been instrumental in shaping the next phase of development, as Pipi and I continue refining the piece in preparation for its premiere at the New Zealand Fringe Festival.

We’re also excited to welcome Ant Church to our creative team. His technical expertise brings valuable support to the production as we move toward the next phase of this journey.

"Shift of Tides was amazing! Captivated the audience from start to finish. I laughed. I cried. I laughed again. I left feeling connected and joyful." - Caleb

“Shift of Tides is one of the most emotionally mesmerising, captivating live performances I have ever seen. The two performers, despite mostly performing in separate spaces, seem to have a psychic connection to each other and the audience that blurs the boundaries between space, time, performer and observer. It’s an intimate experience that shouldn’t be missed.” - Pania

"Shift of Tides performance was one of those moments you encounter almost by chance and realise it was exactly what you needed. It stirred me up and made me feel simultaneously nostalgic and curious about what's ahead. I laughed, occasionally welled up at the sadness of it all, and left with new sparks of conversation, both with myself and with my son. It was open enough for everyone to take away exactly what they needed most that day. A much needed reminder of the beautiful complexities we each hold, and of art's connective tissue." - Magda

We are deeply grateful for the generous support that has helped bring Shift of Tides to life.

Special thanks to:

Katie Pascoe from Viewfinder Window Gallery – for hosting our residency and supporting the development of the work

Melissa Banks – for her stunning photography documenting our early performances

Michelle Moss – for capturing our first promotional images

Lee Woodman – for his invaluable technical assistance

Youth Nelson – for providing initial rehearsal space

WAA Club (Whakatū Nelson) – for ongoing rehearsal support and creative encouragement

I’m one of the founders of the Nelson Fringe Festival (NFF), Aotearoa New Zealand. I helped to develop it with a group of fantastic people who have a passion for arts, theater and their community. One of my main tasks was to create the visual imagery for the festival and its presence in media. I made most of the marketing materials, including posters, flyers, t-shirts, programs, invitations, concept for promotional videos, etc.

Our main slogan was ‘Where Edges Meet’. With that in mind I wanted to help our audience and participants to reconnect with their inner child by creating quirky illustrations that make them laugh. The spirit of the Nelson Fringe was positive and high.

I worked for the NFF for four years. Here are some images for the NFF 2017 and 2018.

Since 2019 I have been collaborating with Raspberry Productions.

In 2021, during Nelson Jewellery Week, NJW, we created a poster campaign ‘Out Fitting Jewellery I’ as a part of the ‘Buildings Need Jewellery’ project.

In 2023, the ‘Out Fitting Jewelley II’ came alive. We played with a giant blown up chain that wanted to float but couldn’t. And a body that wanted to interact in that "hopeless" floating activities. Sometimes…. There were three performances, three emotions and three openings for the chain to float in the air.

The Buildings Need Jewellery project aimed to encourage artists and designers to place objects, images or stage an intervention on buildings within Whakatū CBD so they adorned and enriched the city space we inhabit, with the philosophy that buildings need jewellery too.

Since 2019 I have been collaborating with Raspberry Productions.

In 2021, Katie Pascoe and I created an awareness poster campaign: PAYE ATTENTION - a call for pay equality and equity for Aotearoa New Zealand.

We believe that through awareness, transparency and equity we can action to minimise the pay gap and realise an equitable workforce where all genders and ethnicities have access to equal pay.

In 2021, I initiated the Blue Stories Project: sharing journeys out of perinatal depression as an exhibition of portraits alongside inspiring and encouraging stories in Whakatū Nelson.

In 2022 and 2023, the Project had a nationwide reach with exhibitions coming to Tāmaki-makau-rau Auckland, Te Moana-a-Toi Bay of Plenty, Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara Wellington, Te Tauihu-o-te-waka Marlborough, Waitaha Canterbury and Ōtākou Otago.

In 2022, during Aotearoa New Zealand’s Mental Health Awareness Week, the Blue Stories Project was launching a nationwide poster campaign to promote awareness of perinatal depression and bright up the streets of Aotearoa with a vibrant pop-art-with-a-purpose. That purpose was to shine a light on perinatal depression, an illness that all too often goes undiagnosed and often carries with it a stigma that is unhelpful and unjustified. Joanne Teina, the Kaumātua and Kaiārahi Māori at Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Aotearoa (PADA) shared, “I’m not just my diagnosis, there’s more to me than that, I have wairua, that’s what I’ve inherited from my ancestors, how does that shape and influence me?” Towards sparking these conversations and more, a series of four large posters were beaming out from bollards in our main centers.

The project has an online presence with all stories and portraits posted on the project website. There is also a section to listen to all audio interviews. I warmly invite you to check the project website, www.bluestoriesproject.com.

Since 2020, I’ve collaborated with Cultural Conversations in many different ways. I wrote and recorded a story for Te Ramaroa Moon storytelling sessions. I prepared and facilitated a few workshops, including Sentimental Tunes and Sentimental Jewellery. I recited poems, drew illustrations, and created some designs for this special organisation. I’ll continue my collaboration. I am an artist, mother, and emigrant, and I belong to this place.

Cultural Conversations is a community-based arts hub that facilitates opportunities for people from Nelson’s former refugee and migrant communities to share music, art, and storytelling through creative programs, workshops, and events. They have a beautiful kaupapa that CC is a place for learning, supporting, and opportunity. Strength lies in differences not similarities'. I support it with my heart.

I help my clients present their ideas, concepts and projects effectively to their audience by listening and responding to their needs, and by creating smart, distinctive and beautiful designs.

I worked with Predator Free Wellington between December 2020 and June 2023.

It’s an organisation that wants to make Wellington the first predator free capital in the world. Full community involvement is needed to make it happen.

My role was to design, illustrate and create visual vocabulary that promotes their idea. My work helped them to engage with Wellington communities and made the second stage of their project happen.

I help my clients tell their important stories by creating thoughtful designs and unique illustrations that they and their audiences love.

During first lockdown in 2020 I was approached to create logo, posters and social media images for the Kindness Pandemic. I knew that we all needed bright colours, positive vibes and good actions coming from our hearts. All is still relevant! Don’t forget to be KIND!

Interactive Jewellery and Illustration Exhibition with Katie Pascoe, who designed the exhibition to feature earrings that were linked with their own particular song. Katie asked me to translate the jewellery pieces and photographic portraits into illustrations.

Playlist for Earrings 2018

Salt Gallery, Nelson

The Victory Community Centre (VCC) is the heart of my local community. It’s a place strongly connected with Victory Primary School and all its families. The VCC is a space where many beautiful celebrations and events happen. One of them is the yearly Matariki celebration and Lantern Hīkoi which marks the beginning of the New Year in the Māori lunar calendar.

In 2021, I was asked to create poster, flyers, map and social media images for this special occasion. I knew that the image had to come from our community. I connected with the Cultural Narrative Coordinator from Victory Primary School, and I got permission to use, as an inspiration for my poster, an image from the cultural narrative mural created by children from the school. My design included elements of their work. It made us all happy.

THE_RUSH_OF_STILLNESS

VIEWFINDER, December 2019

“Everyone's a winner, bargains galore

That's right, you too can be the proud owner

Of the quality goes in before the name goes on

One-tenth of a dollar, one-tenth of a dollar, we got service after sales

You need perfume? we got perfume, how 'bout an engagement ring?

Something for the little lady, something for the little lady,

Something for the little lady, hmm

Three for a dollar

We got a year-end clearance, we got a white sale…” - Tom Waits, Step Right Up

Since 2019 I have been collaborating with Raspberry Productions.

Lipstick on the Glass was an interactive video installation, by Raspberry Productions, that paid tribute to the famous 1980s Polish song by Maanan, set on the streets of Warsaw. The installation was part of Te Ramaroa 2021.