This work represents the search for hope within hopelessness, where within dark places individuals seek solutions or answers outside of themselves. 

The work poses questions to the viewer, as many of us are weighed down by the ever growing challenges we face within Te Ao Hurihuri – is hope found in hopelessness (faith), or is it delusion? 

The wand represents a supernatural solution to impossible tasks, a fairy godmother to relieve us from our reality. This work pays homage to people who hold out hope amidst the hardship, and rejects the negative connotations that ‘delusion’ carries, as opposed to faith.

Our existence as a species has hardwired cynicism into our psychology as a survival tactic, and this work challenges that determinant in how we approach life, encouraging us to indulge in ‘blind faith’, because without this we lose the spiritual essence of our being that defines us as a species and connects us to the universe.

The images below are mid-process digital visualisations by Ryan Aranyi, created in collaboration with the artist during the development of files for 3D printing of the artwork. They show hints of the evolution of the work; details that Ming and Ryan further refined before production. SCAPE and the artist thank Ryan for gifting his expertise to this project.