Moon Water Olivia Asher

Olivia Asher (Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Moon Water ~ Wai Marama, explores the idea of 'moon charged water' - sacred water embodied; a transference of energy; of wairua. It speaks to the innate connection and relationship of moon & water, entailing that neither can exist without the other.

Wai Marama

I fell in love with the moon,

she waxes and wanes

and I feel it all.

I fell in love with the moon,

like the water did –

but maybe I’m in love with them both.

Floating in her body,

I tilt my head back,

ears filling with water

I steady myself and stare at the stars

wondering how I can be made of nothing

and everything

all at once.

I feel her ebb,

deep in my bones and wonder

if I was more water than anything else,

I was born wet,

but maybe

that’s why we crave touch,

why we ache for connection –

because we’re all just trying to return

to the place where we were nothing

but water and light,

before the moon started whispering

our secrets

into the waves.

I bathe in the moon

like I bathe in the water,

skin too tight,

so cold it burns.

It feels like drowning,

but in the best way,

the kind of drowning

where you surrender to the waves.

I try to live with it –

the constant yearning

for something I can never quite hold.

I whisper ‘love me quietly’

as she loves me from afar.

- Olivia Asher

Artists

Olivia Asher

Olivia Asher (Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Olivia embraces experimentation and spontaneity through the materiality of her work. Making becomes a meditative process, where she immerses herself in the present moment, exploring the exchange between intention and intuition. Seeking a visceral response to her work, Olivia harnesses the tactile and sensory qualities of her materials through the transformative use of colour.

Olivia holds a BFA from Te Waka Tūhura Elam School of Fine Arts and Design.