Aotearoa's Medicinal Plants as Fairies

How did this series come about?

A few months ago, I was asked to paint a mural at Coromandel Area School, collaborating with a class to create a shared vision of a magical forest. The class I worked with wanted fairies, or patupaiarehe, in it alongside native flora and fauna. So I thought it would be great to create some fairies connected to our native plants and mushrooms. 

I created a number of small paintings as concepts for the mural below, one of which was a Kawakawa fairy and she sparked the series.

 

As a child, I adored Shirley Barber’s fairy illustrations, The Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker, and the fantasy works of Brian Froud. I hoped my mural would inspire students as much as these artists inspired me.

I decided to centre my fairy series not just around native flora, but on medicinal plants like Kawakawa. I love learning about natural medicine and what I can forage in my own backyard. So many of us are raised in synthetic environments, oblivious to what is growing around us. I didn’t really know much about our native medicinal plants, so I began to do some research. An online course on the foundations of Rongoā Māori (Māori medicine) popped up, and I found it really helpful. It was facilitated by Awhi Rongoā and Tarikura from Aio the Podcast. The course delved into the tikanga of working with the plants and how to identify and safely create rongoā rākau. I began identifying some of these rākau (plants) on my bush walks and found many of them growing close to home. I harvested leaves to use as references and later brewed them into teas!

The plants I chose to focus on were:

KAWAKAWA
• Has strong anaesthetic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Supportive for digestion, improving circulation and nourishing for the skin.

KOHEKOHE
• Supports menstrual health, helps relieve cramps, eases symptoms of endometriosis and menopause, balances hormones, regulates menstrual cycles, aids in postpartum healing and more.

MĀNUKA
• Helpful for respiratory, digestive and oral issues. Also great immunity booster. Has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

KŪMARAHOU
• Used to treat coughs, colds, respiratory issues, bronchitis, asthma and more.

KOROMIKO
• Helps with stomach, gut and digestive issues. Can also be used externally for various skin issues.

TĀTARĀMOA
• Calms the nervous system, acts as a natural sedative. She also supports the respiratory system and can be used to reduce fevers.

HARAKEKE
•The gel inside leaves can be used to treat wounds and burns and the leaves themselves were used as bandages. 

KOPAKOPA
• Leaves are edible, rich in vitamin K, calcium and Vitamin A. She also supports the immune system and is beneficial for respiratory and digestive health.

 

I feel that conveying these plants as beings/fairies helps remind us of their sentience, so they are not just looked at as a resource. They need to be treated with respect, and having an energetic connection with trees and plants is so good for us. Rongoā Māori offers us a lens of reciprocal, respectful, and conscious engagement with plants. It’s sad to realise how disconnected so many of us have been from this knowledge, after colonisation Rongoā Māori was actively suppressed and systematically undermined.

I've loved creating something that supports the resurgence of this knowledge. So far I have painted Kawakawa, Mānuka, Tātarāmoa, Kohekohe, Harakeke, Koromiko, Kūmarahou and Kopakopa (Plantain). I hope to keep developing this series and to exhibit the works in a way that connects viewers with these plants and Rongoā Māori. 

I am selling prints and a postcard-sized set of the eight fairies, with a write-up about their properties and identifying features on the back. I am currently on the hunt for the perfect frames for my eight originals so far, and I hope to exhibit them next year!