‘12 Mountains’ is a project that brings together a council of the indigenous voices of 12 Mountains from around the world. The Mountains will be filmed in timelapse for one year and will be shown as a one hour multichannel projection installation in-the-round. The movement of the sun and passage of the stars traversing across the screens allows us to feel Earth's rotation and the hemispheric tilt of the seasons. The videos are interwoven with interviews with the human communities who regard these mountains as their ancestors, sharing their wisdom.

The project was inspired by the Te Atiawa Maori group’s petition for legal personhood for Taranaki in Aotearoa. The imaginative application of the legal system to grant rights to land and the lives and spirits therein presents profound possibilities for the protection and representation of our sacred planet. If we are able to recognize the personhood of Mountains, we should also practice listening to what they have to say.  The story of Taranaki Maunga—and Whanganui River and Te Urewera—has the potential to inspire other such protections for Mountains, Rivers, Lands, and Oceans around the world.

‘12 Mountains’ is a collaborative effort. As the artist, my role is to carry out the work of filming the Mountains and collaborating with their extended human communities. Each film will exist as an individual piece which belongs to all participants within the Mountain community to use as they wish, as well as belonging to the ‘12 Mountains’ project.

While in Aotearoa I came across this whakataukī (Maori proverb): Pūkenga maunga, rerenga wai. It has been translated to "Where there are peaks, water flows." This whakataukī captures what I believe is the purpose of this work: for earthly wisdom to flow to all so that it may spiritually nourish, teach, and connect us.