Tī kōuka is Cordyline australis, the New Zealand cabbage tree.
Torbay tī kōuka (2011) effectively critiques a form of ‘ecological colonialism’, contrasting the tree’s natural wetland habitat with its adopted home in the south-west of England. Widely planted through the twentieth century to create a ‘tropical effect’ at popular holiday destinations, the tree is now so closely associated with the south-west that many residents think it is native to the region.
All images are colour or monochrome pigment prints, dimensions varying from 30 x 40 cm to 69 x 150 cm.
Torbay tī kōuka is a sub-project of Bio Borders.
Wayne Barrar 