2021 Artist in Residence – Elizabeth Welsh

​Elizabeth Welsh is fascinated by wetlands, in particular those of Āwhitu Regional Park.

As a keen observer, professional wordsmith and poet, she creates evocative and intimate portraits of these ever-evolving habitats.

You can learn more about Elizabeth's residency experience in the following video clip.

Read the full transcript of this video.

Read one of Elizabeth's residency poems below:

sample from a wetland field diary

5am  reef herons meander in compulsive watchful arcs over mangroves, gloaming just-visible

7am  alien wind, presses, rushes move in slow-tentacular motion; i sense something’s eye near

10am   unsettled hum of spring insectivores; sun paints mud-textured pooling water without heat

1pm  restiad rushland and reedland margin fills with whisked sand, settles at silken, firm root

5pm  saline-junked water fills the main waterway back, back to out-branching fingertips, sipping

8pm  no light left; neither slow nor fast nor temperate nor forgetful nor fizzing nor tense nor tired

Elizabeth Welsh