This is my new approach to place and how connections to place form and shape identity. Over the last few years, the urge to explore my own (East) German culture surfaced inexorably. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, my home town (East) Berlin and East Germany have undergone extreme changes; politically, socially and economically.

Paper pulp is one of the materials I use for this exploration, a medium that is culturally familiar, evokes a sense of home and that gives me the freedom to explore my ideas without cultural boundaries. I sometimes include German letters and documents in the pulp, to add personal meaning.

In 2024 I have begun to repurpose the idea of cobblestones representing the urban whenua/land/soil of East Berlin. While paper is the dominant medium, some of the artworks are infused with natural elements from Aotearoa that speak to my connection to this country as my adopted home.