The Pentecost Art Project
50 days after celebrating the Good News of Easter, we arrive at Pentecost — the moment when God sends the Holy Spirit to empower and encourage the disciples, as told in Acts 2:1–21. Wind, flame, and breath marked that day, and ever since, these and other symbols from Creation have helped us understand the power and movement of the Holy Spirit.
The Pentecost Art Project brings together art from across Aotearoa, exploring these powerful symbols — breath, wind, fire, birds, flight, light — through a uniquely Aotearoa lens.
Our hope is that this project will enable people to see and better understand the presence of the Holy Spirit in their own lives and in the world around them.
Come, Holy Spirit. Haere mai, e Te Wairua Tapu!
Wairua Tapu
© 2025 by Rachel Doragh
As I read through scriptures referencing the Holy Spirit I was drawn to the image of life giving water.
Isaiah 44:3 "I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour out my spirit on your offspring."
Psalm 104:30 "when you send your spirit they are created and you renew the face of the ground"
Mark 1:8 "I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit"
John 6:63 "The Spirit gives life"
and of course the image from Genesis 1:2 "the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters"
In this painting the Toroa (Southern Albatross) is hovering over the water - but there is no bird painted, just the shape of the bird seen as a part of the waters.
Water is such a rich image - majestic and powerful, life giving, cleansing and restorative. I think of the Spirit hovering above but also being poured out on us, and all creation, and the the face of the earth being renewed.
When I was driving back over the Karamea Bluff in summer, a kererū swept across the road in front of me, and into a Rātā tree in full red bloom. The moment was striking—brief, beautiful, and full of quiet power. A few days later, I sat down and painted it from memory. As I reflected, I was reminded how the Holy Spirit often moves like that—subtle, surprising, stirring something deep within us if we have eyes to see. In te ao Māori, the kererū is a symbol of peace, and sometimes seen as a messenger that links the earthly and the spiritual. In the season of Pentecost we remember the gentle, hovering presence that brings renewal and life. This kererū reminded me: creation speaks, if we’re listening.
I go outside every morning and take a moment to be present - often, at Totara Valley, the morning sky is rich in texture and colour - I photograph it weekly. This picture captures something symbolic about The Holy Spirit. I like the blend of fire in the sky (tongues) and the land itself - these, our landscapes where heaven and earth meet.
“Those in whom the Spirit comes to live are God's new Temple. They are, individually and corporately, places where heaven and earth meet.”
― N.T. Wright in Simply Christian
This print reminds us of the life cycle of Kawakawa. First, they are whole, then by way of the Kawakawa Looper Caterpillar their perfection is disrupted. However, over time this disruption changes their chemical makeup, and the plant is triggered to produce more medicinal compounds. They are transformed into something new. No longer perfect yet fit for purpose.
Echoes of humanity’s story can be found in this Kawakawa journey just as we were made and blessed as ‘good’, were disrupted by the fall, and now with Christ find fullness, purpose, and relationship in a different way. This is shalom. Pictured in this woodcut print, is both Kawakawa and wind. Wind, representative of life after Christ on Earth... Wairua Tapu present with us in our new way of being.
I’ve always found a windy day at the beach or on top of the Tararuas to be really invigorating. It wakes me up, makes me feel alive, and reminds me of the power of nature. Acts 2:2 describes the Holy Spirit like a mighty, rushing wind. This process of reflecting on Pentecost from an Aotearoa perspective has changed the way I think of our gales. On the next windy day I’ll be praying, “Come, rushing wind, fill us with wonder, wake us up to your powerful, untamed presence.”
Third Day Unveiling
This painting is acrylic on board.
© 2005 by Hannah Donmez. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
How do you convey the unseen, using the medium of paint? This was a question I grappled with throughout my four years as an art student. The starting point for the series from which this painting comes was Genesis 1:2b: “and the Spirit of God was moving over the water.” Like wind, the Spirit stirred, shaped and filled the lungs of creation.
This act of the unseen revealing itself through the seen is a concept I’ve translated literally into my painting technique. Air is used to move and shape the paint and medium across the surface, creating organic forms that are sometimes opaque and intensely coloured, sometimes translucent and subtle, revealing the layers beneath. The technique is not as precise as painting with a brush and means the painting itself almost takes on a life of its own, moving where the air takes it. A mistake becomes a ”beautiful oops” that must be worked with, rather than forced into something it was never going to be. The end piece is always something of a surprise
A Pentecost Prayer from Aotearoa
E te Atua, God of all creation,
We see your Spirit moving through this land—
in wind, in fire, in water, in breath.
As the wind blows through the trees
we remember:
You came at Pentecost like a rushing wind – moving and giving life.
Breathe through us, e Te Wairua Tapu,
that we may think and act with courage and compassion.
As fire warms our homes and lights our night skies,
we remember:
You came as flame, resting on your people.
Burn in us, igniting a passion for love and justice.
Let our words bring compassion and truth.
As rivers flow to the sea,
we remember:
You flow through creation, ever-moving, ever-renewing.
Cleanse us, refresh us, and carry us forward
Let us be carried by your current of grace.
As birdsong greets the dawn,
we remember:
Your Spirit speaks in many tongues and voices.
Teach us to listen to each other and to the land.
Unite us in the harmony of diversity.
Come, Wairua Tapu, Holy Spirit,
fill the skies, fill the forests, fill the oceans,
fill the hearts and minds of all who dwell in Aotearoa.
May we be people of Pentecost—
grounded in creation,
bold in faith,
and alive with your Spirit.
Āmine.