Aukje has had a connection with Queenstown for a long time and is intrigued by its mining history, the colours of the rocks outside of town, and the derelict houses marked by weather and neglect, all of which inspires her as an artist.

Aukje works with reclaimed materials, saturated with known and unknown stories. She sees beauty in worn, faded, old cloth and transforms clothing, wool jumpers, wool blankets, etc. into sustainable couture and makes wall pieces applying hand-stitch to found objects. Her work is often coloured in earthy tones using botanical dyes with added rusty metals, copper and brass which affects the colour of the dye.

In 2021, Aukje was one of eight textile artists exhibiting work in Copper and Cloth, an exhibition held at The Majestic in Queenstown. Over the last twenty years, she has conducted workshops in transforming discarded clothing, hand-stitching, and eco-dyeing across Australia. She has also had her work on show in three solo and numerous joint exhibitions in lutruwita/Tasmania.