Gabby O’Connor draws art and science together in ways that are beautiful, playful, serious and completely immersive for young folk. Gabby hosted a workshop of students from Roseneath School that had everyone responding to the ocean in multiple ways. We had a wonderful guest from NIWA - Dr Craig Stevens, who shared some utterly fascinating facts about our harbour, and about the ways that layers in the ocean can change and impact the kind of sea life found there. We made lightbox ocean scenes, looked into a tank of saline and fresh water to see the layers combining and separating, and wrote our thoughts about why the ocean is important to us. Every student was fully engaged and went away with incredible insights into the life of an ocean-scientist, and into ways that artmaking can respond to the world and, essentially, convey ideas about beauty, risk, mystery and abundant life.
