Hope of a Kiss
NIGEL BANKS, 2024
Weather and wonder have shaped two driftwood sticks. Delivered by improbable currents of chance from distant patches of bush to a single beach, they arrive – sculpted, quiet, ready. Their forms echo those of driftwood gathered from Ruarapapari Waipuna at the mouth of the harbour. Nature knew their shapes before we did.
One stick is an enigma made of stardust with a fear of staying. The other is stubbornly terrestrial, full of certainty. As their encounter begins, time seems to fold inward – just for them.
They don’t speak. They see. They are.
And for one perfect moment, the universe is utterly still.
This moment is Hope of a Kiss – that unlikely event where two souls are held close just long enough for an encounter to break out.
One reaches down from the velvet vault of night, ancient as silence.
The other looks up from the weight of the land, clumsy with longing, hungry for light.
They recognise the other before they understand.
They meet – not quite touching, not quite staying – in this defining moment.
Their connection is brief, unspeakably tender – and maybe… enough.
This is the One Moment – when the static drops out, the curtain lifts, and both souls glimpse something neither expected: the hope of a kiss.
Not the kiss itself.
The hope.
The voltage of maybe.
The charge of what-if.
Suddenly, connection feels not just possible, but inevitable.
And like all things that matter, it doesn’t last.
Yet it will never leave – not entirely.
Oil, alkyd and polyurethane over linen on 4 mm ACM sheet.
Find installation info here.
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See second, annotated photograph of the picture.
1 - Sticks: Two unique forms, each modelled on a piece of driftwood from the harbour’s mouth at Mount Maunganui. Aligned yet distinct, these characters have recognised the potential for connection – their proximity holds the possibility of an electric moment that will quietly shape all that follows.
2 - OK Girl: A symbol of openness and courage, OK Girl stands outside time, fully present in life’s unfolding. In this moment, she embodies the readiness to reach toward the unknown.
3 - Constellations – Southern Cross & Matariki: Markers of the vast, infinite unknown – the calm domain of the celestial self. Both offer direction and possibility, though their meanings can unfold only through choice.
4 - Taranaki: An iconic, grounded presence rising from land, sea, and sky that defines the south westerly promontory of North Island’s coast. The mountain reflects one character – steady, explicit, shaped by geological time.
5 - Undifferentiated Self: The early, unformed sense of identity – a stage of quiet potential before self-awareness takes shape. It reflects the grounded character’s starting position on the journey toward deeper understanding.
6 - Ego / Self: A symbol of dynamic balance between ego and true self. In this phase, greater awareness steadies the tension between outward identity and inner truth.
7 - The Kiss: A pivotal threshold of risk and possibility, where connection may unfold – or pass by – shaped by choice alone.