
SARAH ZIESSEN
Of Innocence and Experience
Blue skies, clear beach,
unwinding holiday.
Swim in the waves,
play in the surf.
I stand submerged, waist-deep,
toes wiggling into wet sand.
I look to the shore,
steps away,
the city beats.
Then, without warning,
quite suddenly,
I am sunk.
A materialisation.
A realisation:
not all here is as it seems.
And I am drowning
in a plastic soup.
These wide blue arms,
this salt rhythm,
never the same.
Not in my life,
not in yours.
Yet still,
the tide is ours to turn.Winner of the Rotorua Museum Art Award
This work reflects a moment that fundamentally shifted the way I understand my role as a maker. It arose from questioning what it means to continue producing objects in a world already saturated with things, and how an artistic practice might exist without simply sustaining patterns of overconsumption and environmental carelessness. Eco-anxiety is part of my daily reality and shapes my decisions. Through this piece, I wanted to convey the tension of living within this uniquely contemporary condition: how these issues disturb the contemplative sands of my mind, and how I yearn to play with the freedom and unknowing of a child.
© 2024 Sarah Ziessen