List of Works U to Z
Uenuku the Headdress The flow of woken leaves. The weaving reflected in a kawakawa headdress has a feminine influence on this story of custom. Picked fresh for hui and tangi alike the hair piece is collected and later buried with the tupapaku or returned to whenua. Leaves from nga rakau have their own mana and medicine spirit that is acknowledged when they are used.
2025 Size 5Ocm x 75cm Acrylics on Canvas
Understanding knowledge I went with mum to collect flax and make whariki but the lesson wasn't about the mat it was about the flax. She would look to where it grew, conditions of the plant, what side of the sun were the leaves facing and what trees were close. Scouting an unpicked patch of lush muka to her was worth the trouble. Her hands were nimble as she stroked the flax and spoke to the bush in te reo as she pruned away what was just enough. Plants were always treated as alive by mum.
2025 Size 5Ocm x 75cm Acrylics on Canvas
Under the Awa is a story about dreaming of diving under the caverns of Rotorua where Pekehaua's spirit still exists on a parallel plain in our Maori universe. The guardians of the awa watch on as mokopuna splash and play on the banks.
2011 Size 12cm x 24cm Acrylics on Canvas
Under the Awa 2 The crystal waters of Awahou flowing from the mountains down to a lifegiving force of the tribe. Mum saw her awa as family to be cared for above all else. Her family still fight today to have the city pumps turned off so the awa and her food resources can return to life but the pakeha prevails with new laws and tweeks of their business importance over nature and life.
2023 Size 6Ocm x 75cm Acrylics on Canvas
Under the Washing Line My aunties and mum would recite karakia while hanging out the washing to sharpen their skills while away from the Pa. They would practice remembering the old karakia and song of their parents hoarding the knowledge for smart mokopuna who asked the right questions about who we are.
2025 Size 6Ocm x 75cm Acrylics on Canvas
Walking knowledge The journey of studying art through the pakeha system in Australia. Mum prepared me with karakia and the family whakapapa of both sides before I started their classes. She would quiz me on their influence over my perspectives to life as she a Maori sees. Mum taught over their teachings bringing out our family history to the forfront of my work.
1991 Size 6Ocm ^ Oils on Canvas
Walking Stix Tells about the balance of nature between brother and sister descending from a two-headed hei tiki. This is the whakapapa of Hehe and Taururua's mokopuna. Finding both hei tiki spirits is the journey of his descendants to come as the door of knowledge opens from old Jacob.
2025 Size 5Ocm x 75cm Acrylics on Canvas
Warring wives Domestic violence within the weaves of wombs. The impacts of a colonising culture over a way of life under the tutualage of our Maori gods.
1996 Size 5Ocm x 6Ocm Acrylics on Canvas
Watercress The pride of a tribe with a river flowing with watercress is now in the past as water is pumped for city and tourist usage.
2024 Size 3Ocm x 75cm Acrylics on Canvas
Weaving Trees Each generation weave themselves through their whakapapa creating their own thread and pattern into the future. The strong endure like trees branching off with new shoots as others like Hehe Hakopa remain steadfast with the trunk of their tree of Awahou. When you marry into Rangiwewehi you bend like reeds with the family of our awa.
2025 Size 6Ocm x 75cm Acrylics on Canvas
Weepers Keepers The sorrow during a tangihana is shared by both past and present family members. The living and the dead sleep together for the last time before a loved one is joined to the urupa forever. Spirits are awoken at the beginning to watch and influence then put back to sleep with karakia song and life itself.
2024 Size 6Ocm x 75cm Acrylics on Canvas
