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COROMANDEL LIFE 2016 LATE AUTUMN / WINTER
W
hat was the famed Earthscape sand
artist Andres Amador doing here?
And WOW...how did he get ‘alone
time’ at Cathedral Cove?
Happenstance. Andres shares the answer,
“A gorgeous beach with a dramatic tunnel
that joins 2 stretches of sand. I know this is
a very popular beach, with upwards of 2000
people a day during the summer. We had the
rare experience of being the sole people there
for several hours when workers closed the
trail while paving the trail (ugh!) to the beach.
We had gotten there before the work had
commenced (arriving before dawn) and so were
actually trapped on the beach! A great place to
have to spend a few hours!”
What an unexpected opportunity! Happily
trapped, Andres ‘painted’ the masterpiece
shown above, undisturbed by the usual crowds
visiting one of the most popular spots on the
Coromandel. Wish we were there!
WHY NEW ZEALAND?
“I’ve been intrigued for a number of years
about New Zealand,” says Andres. “Nature and
people drew me. It seemed the perfect place
to do an extended visit and an opportunity to
do my art projects. It is truly the land of beauty,
with spectacular landscapes at every turn.”
And Andres does not just ‘doodle’ at the
surfline. Impressive works similar to this one
at Cathedral Cove were sketched at about 25
locations throughout North Island during his
three month journey. They can take up an entire
beach, crowd between tidepools, stretch up
an inlet’s sandbar, or wrap halfway around an
island (see following pages for more photos).
Amador arrived with his wife Ember and young
son Kavi in early February in search of sandy
coastlines to begin his ‘Lines Across Aotearoa’
project, part of a larger campaign, ‘Lines
Across the Earth’.
As he visits the planet’s continents, he
collaborates with local artists to create
‘ephemeral’ cultural designs on their sands.
And in NZ, he sought out Maori.
Andres’ creative process is recorded in stills
and video (often using drones) by collaborator,
NZ born Jonathan Clark. Their larger
project includes a major movie,
Capturing
Impermanence.
“This feature length film will cover everywhere
the project has taken us. So far, San Francisco,
Cape Cod, Cape Town, Ireland and NZ. Without
words, it will be carried by imagery and sound”.
L
ines across Aotearoa
International
Earthscape
artist sketches
sands of the
Coromandel
Could this photo be real? Cathedral Cove
attracts up to 2000 visitors per day and on a
typical day looks more like the photo below.
How could this person be sitting there in the
centre of an intricate sand sketched mandala
... ALONE?
This photo had been shared on Managing
Editor Carol Wright’s FB timeline. Her further
research revealed it was indeed Andres
Amador, and this stop was part of a three-
month New Zealand sand ‘campaign’.
I was thrilled with Carol’s discovery – not
only of Andres’ unique project, but also of the
awesome photos capturing the visit by talented
Kiwi born photographer Jonathan Clark. It is an
honour to share this collaborative partnership
with readers as our cover story.
– Tovi Daly
by TOVI DALY and CAROL WRIGHT
All photos by Jonathan Clark