Ka mua ka muri | New Prints
Reflecting on previous bodies of work, Ka mua ka muri; I am looking back in order to move forward. Reminding us that the past is still relevant, looking back at what was lost, in exchange for more loss. Dense with nostalgia, but tenderness is woven into the narrative, softened by the beautiful forms that shape this new series of works. Sighs, not angry shouts, blow through the work.
Old, scratched and up-cycled plates have been re shaped and made to look over-handled… made to look like they carry history. They are honouring the past, reaching ever more forward to where we stand today. My work predominately has looked at the duality of artefacts and material culture to explore a sense of identity through my mixed heritage.
There is a deliberate juxtaposition in the arrangement of these plates to create multiple readings, creating new narratives. Cloak like forms merge into pendant shapes all relating to the body, objects symbolic of high rank (pertaining mana) depending on who wore them and how rare. The internal and external shapes are based around elements of protection; kaitiaki / guardian to keep safe, as a kind of self portrait without the person there.
The shaping of Taonga/artefacts, personal adornment and weaponry is a long-standing interest. The influence of the natural world seems obvious, not just in the materials used for such items, but in the bird like forms that have inspired weaponry and tools shaped for a purpose. Artefacts talk about the hand of the maker, their tribal connections, and their personal story, leaving their mark behind.
The hand of the artist is evident, handmade editioned prints, leaving my signature mark behind. I am a maker, who is driven by technical skills; etching provides me with a type of making that essentially is about the processing of the plates as though I was making personal adornment, the printing often secondary.
Dark shades of sap green give the feeling of pounamu / greenstone and shades of sepia brown are combined with bone coloured chine-collé papers creating distinct whalebone surface qualities. Elements of blood red adorn the work as a reference to Hei tiki; in human form. A love of paper, the works harbour layers of texture, subtle colouring sympathetic to the subject matter. All elements of materiality are married together to enhance and to accentuate the plate forms.
“When I think about Te moana nui a kiwa and Tangaroa our guardian of the sea, I imagine an underwater world of navigating mammals travelling from land to land by sea. My ancestors all arrived by waka / boat with a whaling history married into my whakapapa from the coastline of Picton and Waikawa. Across the wider Pacific the use of whale bone and tooth has culturally been used as a material in personal adornment, signifying chiefly status of mana and tangata whenua, our people. For me it talks about cultural diversity and our relationship to our land and sea. It was an obvious choice to depict a whale tooth held by seaweed as a necklace as if to carry our ancestors from shore to shore".
The exploration of cultural identity, the value of history and the complexities of human connection are contemplated, to show how artefacts can be both personal adornment and remnants of material culture. Here, the Maori story is rendered with contemporary materials. It is social and personal, cultural, and human. It includes you.
It is often the material culture that we leave behind, heirlooms, personal items, fragments of history, dense with memory and stories once told.
Old, scratched and up-cycled plates have been re shaped and made to look over-handled… made to look like they carry history. They are honouring the past, reaching ever more forward to where we stand today. My work predominately has looked at the duality of artefacts and material culture to explore a sense of identity through my mixed heritage.
There is a deliberate juxtaposition in the arrangement of these plates to create multiple readings, creating new narratives. Cloak like forms merge into pendant shapes all relating to the body, objects symbolic of high rank (pertaining mana) depending on who wore them and how rare. The internal and external shapes are based around elements of protection; kaitiaki / guardian to keep safe, as a kind of self portrait without the person there.
The shaping of Taonga/artefacts, personal adornment and weaponry is a long-standing interest. The influence of the natural world seems obvious, not just in the materials used for such items, but in the bird like forms that have inspired weaponry and tools shaped for a purpose. Artefacts talk about the hand of the maker, their tribal connections, and their personal story, leaving their mark behind.
The hand of the artist is evident, handmade editioned prints, leaving my signature mark behind. I am a maker, who is driven by technical skills; etching provides me with a type of making that essentially is about the processing of the plates as though I was making personal adornment, the printing often secondary.
Dark shades of sap green give the feeling of pounamu / greenstone and shades of sepia brown are combined with bone coloured chine-collé papers creating distinct whalebone surface qualities. Elements of blood red adorn the work as a reference to Hei tiki; in human form. A love of paper, the works harbour layers of texture, subtle colouring sympathetic to the subject matter. All elements of materiality are married together to enhance and to accentuate the plate forms.
“When I think about Te moana nui a kiwa and Tangaroa our guardian of the sea, I imagine an underwater world of navigating mammals travelling from land to land by sea. My ancestors all arrived by waka / boat with a whaling history married into my whakapapa from the coastline of Picton and Waikawa. Across the wider Pacific the use of whale bone and tooth has culturally been used as a material in personal adornment, signifying chiefly status of mana and tangata whenua, our people. For me it talks about cultural diversity and our relationship to our land and sea. It was an obvious choice to depict a whale tooth held by seaweed as a necklace as if to carry our ancestors from shore to shore".
The exploration of cultural identity, the value of history and the complexities of human connection are contemplated, to show how artefacts can be both personal adornment and remnants of material culture. Here, the Maori story is rendered with contemporary materials. It is social and personal, cultural, and human. It includes you.
It is often the material culture that we leave behind, heirlooms, personal items, fragments of history, dense with memory and stories once told.