Brothers Island Lighthouse

• 400 x 400mm
• Acrylic, newsprint and compressed charcoal on board in recycled window frame
• 2023
• $1100

‘The Brothers’ form two small island groups in the Cook Strait, each containing one main island and a number of tiny islets. The main islands are called North Brother and South Brother. The Brothers Lighthouse (built on the North), was first lit in 1877. Construction of the lighthouse was difficult because of its isolation and lack of fresh water. Building materials for construction were unable to be delivered to the island for 2 months because of the weather and sea conditions. Workers had to construct huts, as tents could not be pitched on the rock. Extremely isolated and desolate, the lighthouse is New Zealand’s only rock station. It was notorious for sending keepers ‘rock happy’ because of the isolation. Brothers was the last manned lighthouse in New Zealand.