Veda Austin
Location: New Zealand
Veda Austin is a New Zealand water researcher, author, artist and mother of three. For nearly a decade she has been photographing water in a ‘state of creation’, the state between liquid and ice that she believes is responsive to consciousness. Veda views this important phase from three perspectives. Scientifically, water is becoming a liquid crystal, artistically, water is free to design, and from a spiritual level, water enters a phase of fluidity between space and time, and is in a place of ‘becoming’.
Her desire to find a unifying force that upheld the principles of life, nature, and the cosmos manifested when she began her journey with water at the deepest of levels. Inspired by the genius of Viktor Schauberger, Marcel Vogel, Theodor Schwenk and Rudolf Steiner, Veda embraced a Goethean approach, weaving science with phenomena based learning and years of refined observation. For her, water is not limited, it enters the bodies of people as freely as it enters the bodies of ants…it can be found in the Heavens as well as the Earth, and it never dies, it is always reincarnating between liquid, solid and gas. Veda believes water is FLOW...it does what it is.
With such an extensive collection of macroscopic photographs Veda’s work could easily baffle the rational mind, but by sheer consistency and quantity cannot be disregarded. In fact, Veda believes that through this medium of art an emotional connection can be formed with water, and that this is key to creating change in the way we treat our natural world. She says, "If we think water can feel, we will care for it. If we think it is intelligent, we will learn from it."
Veda's passion for water extends out of the freezer and into primary schools where she donates time teaching water science and cleverly intertwines it with art projects. She loves to reconnect children to the living water systems inside and outside of their bodies, believing that the 'tamariki' (children) are the water bearers of the future.
“Water is the rebel element, it won't conform to the laws of physics or gravity and it can't be killed. Without it there is no life. It reincarnates for all to see and science tells us it came to Earth from outer space. Rebellious, nonconformist, eternal and alien.....just look at the power we are filled with.” - Veda Austin
