Hi, I’m Andy Spain, a commercial photographer and artist from Wellington, I interview photographic artists from Aotearoa / New Zealand. If you want to check out my work go to andyspain.nz and follow me on instagram at andyspain_photography.

Last week I spoke to Johanna Mechen.

I was first introduced to the work of Johanna at the excellent Slow Burn exhibition at Te Papa.

In a sea of photography and photographers, much of which I was familiar with, her moving image piece really caught my eye and left me a bit teary eyed.

The piece of work she was showing was Last Skye Boat Song, a mediative piece, based in the Hutt, with a domestic feel of suburban gardens and paddling pools, filmed in a carefully crafted and slow way.

The piece doesn’t give too much away but hints at changes coming across a family, new horizons, climate change, described as an essay film, a mediatation on motherhood.

Johanna speaks of the lyrics (Bonnie Prince Charlie evading capture dressed as a women), in reference to her Childs gender transition, her own menopause and the idea of it being the last lullaby she sang to her children before they were too old. All with the backdrop of covid. It’s full of Symbolism and her work is long form, taking years to produce, allowing that symbolism to show itself and rise to the top.

It’s part of the Te Papa collection and if you can get to Slow Burn before it closes I highly recommend it.

Johanna completed the work as part of her PHD at Massey University where she teaches.

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