Virginia Were is an artist and writer, living in Auckland. During her MFA at Elam School of Fine Arts in 2018, she used her camera to explore childhood memories of family holidays in geothermal landscapes and watery environments in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. 

 

The series "Kerosene Creek" is a reparative project which focuses on her relationship with her mother, who died in 2016, and mother-daughter relationships in general. "Kerosene Creek" explores how by paying close attention and giving physical presence to the memories of the lost loved one, we can create a 'living unity' in which past and present coalesce - a process that is enormously comforting in the face of loss. 

 

Virginia is an award-winning writer with two books of poetry, “Juliet Bravo Juliet” and “Jump Start”, published by Victoria University Press.

Her photograph, “Human Zoo, Bondi Icebergs, Sydney, 2015”,  won the Second Runner-Up prize at the 2015 Wallace Art Awards. She has a MFA (First Class Honours) from Elam, and is currently completing a Doctorate in Fine Arts.