Exhibitions

This gallery looks at two exhibitions Jo has created in 2005 and 2008.


Behind the Green Curtain - A moment in Karori Wildlife Sanctuary's 500 year plan.

This project looked beyond the lush vegetation and fleeting glimpses of feathered wings to the often unseen efforts of those tasked with caring for the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary.

It explored the constant dedication and hard work conservation officers and volunteers poured into the Sanctuary  to help the regeneration of this valuable conservation site in 2005 - one year in a 500 year plan.

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A Blind Eye

A Blind Eye features twelve portraits of residents from the Pakuratahi Farm Animal Sanctuary. The exhibition was  accompanied with stories about the subjects and their species which are my commentary on the way society treats animals in the 21st century.

The exhibition was created as a result of my frustration at how society appears so indifferent towards the welfare of animals. It is appalling that for such an intelligent and enlightened species, humans still think it is acceptable to torture animals for our needs or entertainment.

Even though some animals are bred as part of our food chain, this does not make them an object. As we take their life solely to enhance ours, we need to make sure they are cared for in a humane and natural way.

Much of the ill treatment of animals in agriculture still continues because society does not demand anything different. If everyone were to stop buying battery eggs for example, then there would no longer be a market for them.

But it is not only farmed animals that we treat with such disregard.

The animals that are supposed to have a higher status in society, our pets, are often subjected to just as cruel treatment as those farmed for meat.

There are often reports in the media of companion animals being beaten, starved, tortured and abandoned. Having a pet means you are responsible for its well being.

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