“We came back because of Covid and then just never left.
“I found it almost impossible at first to adjust to being back here. New York was filled with art galleries, plus we travelled around a lot to places like Sweden or Norway.”
Taurerewa has exhibited internationally in Australia, the United States and China.
She was awarded a residency at The National Artists Studio by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea and exhibited at the Schick Art Gallery and Kentler International Drawing Centre in New York.
But her childhood was spent in Whanganui, where she studied formally as an artist at the Quay School of the Arts.
At age 12, she often made visits to the Sarjeant Gallery.
“As a girl living in small-town New Zealand, I was lucky enough to see art in that environment.”
Her large-scale paintings and charcoal drawings are often based on model figurines arranged on a tabletop, with characters from movies or her life – such as her beloved dog Max – woven into the complex narratives.
“I usually don’t think too far outside the things that interest me in my work, and I’m looking very much at family, everyday existence and popular culture.
“I don’t search too far for my subject matter, I don’t feel I have to.”
Taurerewa said living in America made her a “crazy movie person” – she loves horror films.
“I stick to myself, I’m a loner, I like to be by myself and make my work.”
She said her works were linked thematically and often featured the same recurring symbol of the tabletop.
“The tabletop acts as a psychological, inescapable world, where the characters who populate the tabletop are fated to be together all the time.”
Taurerewa said Whanganui needed more art galleries, especially dealer galleries.
“The thing about big public galleries is that their shows stay for a long time, but if we had some dealer galleries they just would be constantly moving people through.
“Dealer galleries would bring in artists from outside Whanganui, and they don’t have to come from overseas, they could just come from Auckland or Wellington.
“But it would help artists here to see more of what’s out there. Artists need to see art.”
She said art wasn’t about making money and she would still be an artist even if she couldn’t sell her works.
“I wouldn’t give a damn if I never sold anything ever again.”
A selection of Taurerewa’s works will feature in the Dowse Art Museum exhibition Strange Friends from September 9 to January 28.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.
