If you’re looking for a moment of transcendence in the midst of your inner-city shopping day, you will find it courtesy of London-based New Zealand artist Tiffany Singh, whose installation hangs magnificently in the HSBC tower of Commercial Bay.
Of Indian, Samoan and Pākeha descent, Singh has exhibited all over the world — but her latest masterpiece celebrates the ever-shifting skies of her birthplace, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Commissioned by Precinct Properties and curated by Paul Baragwanath, ‘Ororangi’ renders the space in which it hangs a rainbow wonderland.
“I believe colour is therapy and try to make it as immersive in my life as possible,” said Singh. “I wanted to explore perception of colour, and work through a spectrum that deconstructs and reconstructs itself with the three-dimensional space.”
Three years in the making, ‘Ororangi’ (a name bestowed by Kaumātua Tautoko Witika of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) means “blessings from heaven”, and comprises 40,000 metres of double satin ribbon, with 4,489 suspended elements including finishing sinkers to weigh them down.
The large-scale work is an invitation to pause and immerse one’s self for a moment in what Singh describes as “a study into the physicality of light”, as rainbow ribbons cascade from above to delight visitors both young and old.
