Saskia Eliane
Tāmaki Makaurau–based painter working in oil, acrylic, and large-scale murals. Her practice explores the threshold between the physical and the ethereal, where light, nature, and shifting forms dissolve into one another.
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Exhibited at He Waka Tuia Art + Museum - ILT Murihiku Art Awards 2026
42 Kelvin Street, Invercargill 9810
2 October - 15 November 2026
The spiral is seen as a symbol of cyclical nature. Returning, unfolding, evolving. It draws us inwards and outwards, simultaneously co creating new realities. A form that keeps appearing throughout human history, from ancient symbols and sacred geometry to art and architecture. Found across scales, from the microscopic to the cosmic, it reflects something of the cyclical nature of life itself. We can return to the same place, but never quite as the same person.
As Above, So Below
Acrylic and Oil Paint on Wood board
$1200
W 120cm, H 90cm, L 4cm
Intertidal Archive
Oil Paint on Wood Board
W 60cm x H 40cm
The Tāmaki Estuary, once a thriving tidal ecosystem, has endured decades of environmental
degradation driven by industrialisation and urban expansion. A pivotal moment in its recent
history was the 1984 ICI Riverview chemical fire, which released toxic chemicals into the
waterway - polluting the estuary, decimating aquatic life, and leaving a toxic imprint within its
silty floor.
Though signs of recovery emerged within months, the damage was not fleeting. Heavy metal
traces, sediment disruptions, and continued runoff reflect a persistent environmental
imbalance - reminders that the estuary still bears the weight of its past.
This painting emerges from that layered history. Viewed from above, the estuary appears both
murky and luminous. Glints of iridescent colour suggest oil slicks or chemical
traces - ephemeral flashes of past contamination. Partially obscured beneath the surface, a
mud crab becomes a quiet emblem of resilience. Essential to sediment health, these creatures
continue the invisible work of filtering and repair.
The work invites reflection on how memory is held in place - in sediment, in species, in light. It
considers the estuary as more than a waterway: a living archive of environmental injustice and
ongoing recovery, fragile yet enduring.
In Conversation with Estuary Artists: Lucy Boermans, Rose Lee & Saskia Eliane
Video courtesy of Leach Breach, AUT Journalism student.
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