Sounds Swell I OriGiNal by Li

The Marlborough Sounds are an intricate web of sunken river valleys and sheltered inlets — a fractured coastline of steep, forested hills and secret bays that hold light and sound in every cove.

This place is alive with story: the landscape is woven in Māori myth, where taniwha (water guardians, sometimes seen as dragons) and the memory of ancestral waka (canoe) give the waters a living presence. The Sounds are part of Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka — the prow of THE great canoe — connected to the indigenous creation story and a reminder that land and sea carry the traces of journeys past. Whenever I see the Sounds, I sense them as giant sleeping dragons — each bay a breath, each ripple a slow rising and exhale. The quiet is not empty; it hums with the Sound’s own voice — a low song of tides, birds, and ancient stone. That sound is what this piece tries to catch: the swell of memory, the slow music of place.
Beneath the blue, this region sits beside some of Aotearoa’s oldest rocks. North-west Nelson holds Cambrian beds and ancient volcanic remains, around 510 MILLION years old — making this one of Earth’s most geologically fascinating corners.

The Sounds, where sea, story, and stone meet, are truly timeless...

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LIMITED Collector's EDITION (20 only) available  I  Hand-finished in silver and/or gold paint + individually signed and numbered by Artist. Add $200USD to price for the size required, plus postage and packaging. Email Liyanne today at heartslightarts@gmail.com to commission your totally unique version of 'Sounds Swell'.