This collection of new original works by Jessica Ross explore the artist's relationship with the land and turangawaewae, highlighting her family connections with the Blueskin Bay area.

'Emerging' the exhibition, has allowed Jessica to intertwine her own personal story within her paintings as well as share her interpretation of the land and its people.  The suggestion of a figure represents not only that lands voice, but also the various family members who are part of the shared history of Blueskin Bay and its surrounds.  Ross acknowledges the mana of the whenua within her abstract landscapes by conveying the land as alive and actively telling the stories it collects over time, whilst at the same time challenging colonial painting conventions.

Jess graduated in 2019 with a post-graduate certificate in visual arts from the Dunedin School of Art.  She now paints from her Waitati home studio whilst raising her two children.