Kaewa
In a few months from writing this, I will be heading to New Zealand to live there for a while. The other side of the world to where I currently sit. I feel quite numb to the upcoming uprooting and enormous changes to my life, but I know soon that will be replaced with a feeling of both immense excitement and fear. Fear of whether what I am doing is the right thing to do and also a fear of the unknown.
While I know that these feelings are normal for most in situations like this - I know personally that the feeling of being in new places and being around new people and cultures is something that makes me feel alive and present. In these scenarios, time slows down for me. Visual and audio stimuli are received much more clearly. Moments are cherished and long to be forgotten. For me, they are the better moments in life. Exploring new horizons and not getting too comfortable are precursors to joy.
Kaewa comes at a time in my life in which the road ahead seems a little more unclear than it’s been in the past, and following a linear trail doesn’t seem like the obvious thing to do.
Kaewa is a Maori word and roughly translates in English to (to wander, roam). This piece reflects on the mixture of feelings leading up to this event in my life and the advent of exploration ahead. A fusion of euphoria, fear, mystery, confusion, and inquisitiveness.
This piece of work that I’ve been working on for the past 2 months uses my normal methods of world creation through Unreal Engine; using all the normal tools in VFX, asset and scene layouts and rendering. However, this was my first time directly utilizing AI inside the scene itself. To express the notion of there being more horizons and worlds ahead, in the portals I used a mixture of AI-generated imagery as different marker biomes in which the observer can be transported.
The merging of the CORE’s canvas with present thoughts leads me to this piece of art: Kaewa. A reflection of the possibility of seeing the worlds beyond our walls, an urge to explore and want to see more. This piece of work comes at a point in my life in which there is much anticipation and excitement for ‘the next stage’ and a new frontier.
CORE in many ways encompasses this notion; it’s open, and expansive and allows observers to explore new horizons. It’s full of possibility.
As I build out the platform and new worlds are added, Kaewa is the idea I will follow in search of new environments, new ideas, and new versions of the self.