Family Tree by Peter Force | 29 July - 9 Aug 2025

All of the trees depicted in this show were encountered along the Montana Heritage Trail near Te Henga (Bethells Beach), West Auckland. They’re the lucky ones, the Kauri that somehow managed to escape the axe and the sawmill. I’d just discovered I had a new half-sister (something I’m still processing) when I began the series and it was also the first time I’d picked the paintbrushes my Mum left me, so family was at the forefront of my mind when I created them.

A family’s like a forest. Close but apart. Survivors who share a history but who each carry their own stories and scars. Their baggage. Like the branches of a tree, some relatives want to reach out to connect while others distance themselves. Each of the trees in this series represents and is named after an archetypal family member. Cliché characters found in every family. The hyperactive little brother, the weathered granddad, the angst sister, the matriarch and the lurching drunken Aunt. Some relatives like to keep up appearances, others you can’t take anywhere. A tangle of family roots.
A stand of Kauri.