After the completion of Poutama and Pouhine for the wharenui, there were many leftover pieces, and during lockdown, I began to play with them.
This mahi continues an exploration of tukutuku and weaving patterns with contemporary materials and processes. Familiar elements from patiki, papakirango, aronui, kaokao have emerged during the making process, an intuitive response to traditional patterns. Named Tauira āhuahanga (geometric pattern) the viewer can find their own patterns within, the works are A2 or smaller, and painted with both stains and acrylics, sealed with osmo oil/wax. After working with traditional red, black and white I am very much enjoying a splash of colour.
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Tukutuku Panels for Te Ara o Tāwhaki
EIT, Hawkes Bay Opened February 12, 2020 After 25 years since he was built, the interior of Te Ara o Tāwhaki (the Wharenui at EIT) has been adorned with whakairo, kowhaiwhai, and tukutuku with the blessing at 4.00 am this morning. Here at last, are some pics of the interior, with a few of the amazing wāhine and tāne whose hands contributed to the Tukutuku panels. Thousands of laser cut pieces of plywood were cleaned, sanded and assembled by the EIT whanau to cover over 60 sqm of wall. Designing and facilitating this mahi tukutuku has humbled me as an artist ... no panel could have been completed by one person alone... it took a community to create them. And to my helpers Tim Whaitiri Henderson and Pareputiputi Nuku we are all indebted, and to every hand that helped - stand proud of your mahi. Shout out to Te Rangi Robin (lead carver), Emanuel Dunn, Charles Paringitai, Cody Hollis and the Awa ink crew - an honour to work alongside you, and see the three artforms come together so seamlessly. ❤️ In Toi Ahua, group exhibition by Iwi Toi Kanugnugnu, MTG Napier
Nov 2019 – Aug 2020 Laser cut Plywood and stains, 1212 x 1212mm Tāwhiri-mātea “atua of the winds, clouds, rain, hail, snow and storms, he was one of the offspring of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku who did not want his parents separated”. While making this work I was thinking of our rangatahi, and the challenges they face when transitioning into adulthood in today’s world. For some, there is a very real struggle with this change and they resist it, seeking ways to stay in the safe and comfortable zone nurtured by their parents. Tāwhirimātea was outvoted by his brother’s and he still protests today, stirring up the weather - the spiral shapes in this work push and pull, and swirl like the wind. My patterns are intuitive responses to our traditional patterns - emerging in this work are elements of takarangi spiral (which is sometimes used to represent the light coming into the world when the earth and sky were separated) along with patiki (diamond patterns of the flounder, referencing the constellation, ecology and abundance in providing for everyone). Also appropriately, a bird form emerged within the pattern. Koroua Whare (Home Sweet Home)
Installation Hastings City Art Gallery 27 January – 11 March 2018 Vinyl Print Installation What would it be like to enlarge the dolls house photographs to life size? Hi-resolution photographs of the Whare Sweet Whare dolls house were taken by photographer Rory Gannaway, and printed and installed by CSM signwriters to fill the entire wall spaces of the alcove at Hastings City Art Gallery. Following on from the Tūturu Exhibition, I am now making these small panels in various colourways. The pattern which when it is horizontal is called Ahuriri Summer, from the forms of the Hawkes Bay Landscape, rolling hills and the waves of the sea. When turned to the vertical, it becomes the local rivers (Awa), the braided pathways between the manmade stopbank restrictions. The panels are recycled wooden venetian blinds, and have small blocks behind them to offset them from the wall and they are light enough to be installed with bluetack. The purchaser can arrange them in different ways. These are available from the Muse Gallery in Havelock North.
I was invited by Iwi Toi Kahungunu to submit work for a group exhibition at MTG, Napier this year. I have been a guest in this land of Kahungunu for the last 15 years, and it is in this place that my creativity has been able to develop, and learning of my culture has begun. My work revolves around landscape, cultural pattern and identity and continues to be influenced by the connections I make here in Te Matau a Maui.
The landscape here is so different to where I come from in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. The colours, the forms of the hills, the waterways, the moana, the people. This work responds to the landscape, in particular the awa, braided pathways that glisten and meander within their manmade boundaries. The panels are upcycled wooden venetian blinds, the pattern is Ahuriri summer but on the vertical - here it becomes the braided river pathway (3rd from the right). The exhibition won the Resene Colour award, well done Sandy Adsett and his mastery of colour. Masters Exhibition/ Te Hono Ki Toi July 2017 Textile designs serve no practical function, but they can transform an environment, tell a story of a culture, symbolize a tradition, establish unity, convey a personality, or express a mood. Culturally, they allow us to recognize "our tribe" and give one a sense of belonging (Peter Koepke, 2016, p. 9). When I step into my whare tipuna, I am visually immersed in my culture, it’s like a blanket of warmth that wraps around me. Like many Maori, I am physically distanced from my marae. Can this emotional warmth and belonging be triggered by pattern in my suburban home? This installation investigates how pattern in suburban domestic spaces can remind us of our wharenui and marae, but there are also many other little stories to discover... NOTE All images are my own except: Black and white photographs of Tanatana and Rahiri marae in the Waimana valley were taken in 1970-72 by Hirini Moko- Mead. They are available online at http://digitool.auckland.ac.nz: In the house and photographs there are a range of paintings by NZ artists. Kape or Cape, is an exploration of textile surface pattern design that aims to resonate with the Maori women for whom they have been created. The garment style references the customary cloak, the woollen fabric will keep you warm on the marae, and look elegant for an evening out.
The hand screen printed patterns play with the forms of the kape and the triangle, using repetition, reflection, positive and negative spaces to create movement, and trigger memory of our own wharenui. The designs range from the more recognisable to the transitional. This collection honours the late Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan - her leadership as a proud modern Maori woman, the tireless work for her people, and her undeniably Maori fashion style. Kape is the culmination of my studies this year in the Bachelor of Professional Creative Practice (Honours), Te Hono ki toi at ideaschool.
Kaokao, 2013 The tukutuku blanket panels were inspired by images of kuia wrapped in woollen blankets on the Marae, and embody physical warmth with spiritual warmth with familiar pattern and memory. The kaokao pattern (human ribs or armpits) is associated with the warrior, who fights to protect the whanau. Today we face different dangers, and this blanket acknowledges the many battles our kuia and our wahine have fought, and will fight, to protect the family and community. This panel has been gifted to the Heretaunga Womens Centre which will be re-opened on the 27th March 2015, where I hope it will to continue to warm those who seek the support of the centre.
My entry for the Creative Hastings Art in the Park 2014 which is titled The Sound of Milford. The theme was music, and this is my Aotearoa version of the iconic Sound of Music image.
Jewels of Tangaroa...When first discovered by Western scientists, they called them the jewels of the sea. These are microscopic single celled plankton called Diatoms, which along with other plankton belong to the family of Algae which live in the surface of our water.
Algae perform photosynthesis and create more than half of the oxygen in our air, these Diatoms alone make 1/4 of the earths air, every 4th breath we take. Our very existence rely's not only on the oxygen generated from Tane Mahuta, but equally the breath of life created in the realm of Tangaroa. Can we appreciate them more if we admire their beauty? or will we continue to destroy their habitat, and in the end ourselves?
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AuthorRaewyn Tauira Paterson Archives
July 2020
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