“After I did my masters at Elam School of Fine Arts, I went back to my reo - which I’d got as a child – but I did an immersion course in te reo Māori. Then I did a lot of work that was around te reo revitalisation of different kinds – research, writing, I made some learning resources. Since then, through teaching te reo Māori, I reconnected with all of that mātauranga, and out of that I started to want to make artwork again.
“To me, making art – just in the most authentic way – I can’t explain the joyfulness it gives me about being alive.”
Where else have you exhibited across the country?
“There’s Aotearoa Contemporary – a recent one at Auckland Art Gallery – and Spring Time is Heart-break in Christchurch – those were two big survey shows that I was in – pretty cool to be among those other superstars.
“I had a show in Enjoy Gallery called A Koru is a Trajectory and Pakanga for the Lostgirl was my first big solo show at St Paul Gallery in Auckland.”
Your work uses natural materials - like bull kelp (rimurapa) and driftwood (paewai). Why?
“It all started with painting string. That for me has been, in a metaphorical sense, a way to think about connection, like a continuous thread. But I wanted to work in a three-dimensional way – I started with tree branches but moved on to driftwood. It’s only through that I’ve started to become interested in the environmental relevance of those materials.
“The rimurapa has environmental significance because it’s dying out because of global warming. I expect that because I’ve used rimurapa and paewai, they inevitably led to the reminders that global warming is happening. I guess there’s a comment in the show about global warming and I think of it like an akiaki – an urging for people to do something."
Describe what it was like to live in Hastings for six weeks during your residency last year.
“It’s similar to Ōtaki where I come from but different – it’s similar because it’s flat land, kind of a sunny bubble. It’s very beautiful here – there’s a spacious layout of very tall trees! That’s all I can say - I like your Pakn’Save – got a lot of compliments on my blue hair – people really noticed it here!
“It is also always amazing to be among my broader Kahungunu whānau. I’m more of a city Māori, but every time I come here I feel so at home. Kahungunu are a philosophical people, who really wānanga the ways our tikanga apply to a contemporary context, and they have the best sense of humour too!”
How did your time in Hawke’s Bay influence Wā We Can’t Afford?
“When I was in Hastings, it was an opportunity for me to have some time, just in the most basic sense. Coming up with the title – Wā We Can’t Afford – wā is the Māori word for time but it also means space.
“It was a time I didn’t have to be at a job and I had all the time to be creative and make connections with people - other artists who I’d known on Instagram who live here - Te Kīra Whakamoe, Nephi Tupaea, Tracy Keith, Michelle Maitaira. I got to have really deep time with people and other tuakana [mentors or guides] who I could learn from.”
* Wā We Can’t Afford will be open and free to visit from February 22 - May 17.
