Michelle Mayn’s ‘Guava Jelly and Jar’ is a cyclical installation, first conceived for the opening celebration of mothermother Iteration 12 in 2021. Guava Jelly and Jar (2025) for Unifying Threads, Iteration 32 at Te Atamira, is again rooted in the indigeneity of the feminal spirit, providing the kaupapa of care and gift from mothermother.
 
The installation embodies a generational coming together, beginning with the artist and her mother Penelope Campbell (nee) gathering plump ripe guava from a hedge planted before either were born. Over autumn they collect berries - leaving ample for the neighbourhood kererū to feast on.
 
After careful washing and sorting the fruit is rendered into a clear, deep-red jelly - preserved in honour of the hedge’s gift proffered each season. Drawing on the Japanese sensibility of furoshiki a utilitarian remnant of cotton gauze is set aside to individually wrap each jar. The cloth remnant places the receiver in direct relationships with material processes, maker and environment.  Consumed within the home, the works transience is solidified in the memory of the receiver.

The installation reasserts practices of a gift economy and challenges notions of art as object.