Tessa Ma'auga's installation Movements from Pearl Rivers conveys the connections that flow between southern China and Aotearoa. Photo / Judith Lacy
Tessa Ma'auga's installation Movements from Pearl Rivers conveys the connections that flow between southern China and Aotearoa. Photo / Judith Lacy
It’s hard to know where to start with Tessa Ma’auga’s installation at Te Manawa.
It’s diverse, but the three fibre-based sculptures draw you in, calming, centring, intriguing. At the most simple, what goes up must come down, the cycle of life.
On a deeper level, the sculptures and other works in Movements from Pearl Rivers convoy the genealogical, philosophical, cultural and artistic connections that flow between southern China and Aotearoa.
The installation is part of Ma’auga’s creative arts PhD. After four years the Palmerston North resident has just the examination to go.
Tiny motors cause the rods at the top and bottom of the fibre sculptures to rotate, allowing viewers to see what the cords carry.
All the materials and objects are significant to southern China and show the significance of the connection between the region and Aotearoa.
An emphasis on movement is an important element in Chinese art, Ma’auga says, especially the movement of the spirit.
She is interested in the connection that exists between all of us and all things in the universe, the connection with ancestors, the present day and history.
Tessa Ma'auga says art has the potential to foster harmony and promote understanding. The fibre-based sculptures are part of her latest exhibition. Photo / Judith Lacy
The cords rise and fall at the same time. There is a unity in the pattern, a pattern reflected in the evolution of humanity - some aspects of tradition crumble away and new ones come up.
Light is also a big feature of Movements. A lot of Chinese art uses illumination and shadow, often in connection with honouring ancestors, Ma’auga says.
Ma’auga was born in Seattle, Washington State, and moved to Paekākāriki when she was 4. Her father, Gerry Lew, was born and raised in the United States. Ma’auga’s paternal grandmother was born in Canada - her parents come from southern China.
Accompanying Ma’auga’s work are objects loaned by Manawatū residents with southern China heritage.
Some are as simple as a bowl of rice and a moon cake mould, others more intricate - a carved mother of pearl ornament set in a tree root that belongs to her father, an abacus.
The six paper scrolls are made from mulberry paper with rice paper cutouts on top telling the story of migration and connection. Look for animals, plants, architecture, drying fish.
Ma’auga says the mulberry tree originates from China and is used to trace migration. Her ancestors were from Guangdong / the Pearl River Delta.
Chinese objects woven from harakeke make up the final part of Movements.
She received $5000 from the Earle Creativity and Development Trust for the installation.
Ma’auga came to Palmerston North nine years ago to do a Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts and has progressed to doing a doctorate with a research focus on Chinese and Māori visual language, fibre art, community collaboration and youth empowerment.
When she came to Aotearoa, her parents Gerry and Beth Lew put her in the te reo Māori unit at her school. They were aware of the oppression of minorities around the world and saw it as an amazing opportunity to support Aotearoa’s indigenous language.
Ma’auga moved to Palmy from the Marshall Islands where she and her husband, Bruce Ma’auga, helped run the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Programme. The material is Baha’i-inspired and helps 12 to 15-year-olds establish an identity, work with each other to foster a positive peer group and develop a social conscience.
Bruce is Samoan Pākehā and they met in Christchurch through the empowerment programme. They are part of it in Highbury. Bruce and Tessa have three children aged 7, 5, and 2.
