Herbal mixture II

Herbal Mixture II is based on the herbal mixture Areta Wilkinson took after she was diagnosed with a life threatening illness. The work also demonstrates her ongoing interest in jewellery as tohu, signifiers, that both provide and protect. Herbal Mixture II gave Wilkinson the opportunity to look both at her work in a holistic way and at creativity in relationship to her wellbeing. ‘This work was part of participating in my healing and gaining a sense of control. Herbal Mixture II represents medicinal plants from the ingredients in the herbal mixture I took. They are [both] amulets for healing and a botanical collection,’ she says. The silver amulets that can be worn, fashioned as stoppers for the bottles, are based on the mixture’s ingredients – barberry (Berberis vulgaris) for the digestive system and liver, astragalis (Astragalus sp.) for the immune system, dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) for the kidneys and liver, liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) to balance the other herbal properties and give flavour, and red matipo or māpou (Myrsine australis), a rākau tapu or sacred tree used in rongoā or Māori medicine. Wilkinson’s work is created from a merging of abstract form and contemporary narrative. It has conceptual relationships with Māori, and often Ngāi Tahu-specific, concepts but is not directly derivative in form. Wilkinson regards her access to the use of Māori titles and forms as ideas to be negotiated in discussion with her Ngāi Tahu whānau. Herbal Mixture II was commissioned from the artist for the Te Papa art collection.