Contemporary Māori Art

Reflecting on the opening of my solo exhibition 'Purapura Whetū' in Perth, Western Australia

'Call on them and they shall appear'.

'Call on them and they shall appear'.

I have books coming out soon!

I have books coming out soon!

Live taonga pūoro at the opening night created a wonderful ambience.

Live taonga pūoro at the opening night created a wonderful ambience.

Big thanks to everyone that came along to the opening night at The Sound Temple!

Big thanks to everyone that came along to the opening night at The Sound Temple!

'Hiwa i te rangi, your hearts desire'.

'Hiwa i te rangi, your hearts desire'.

'Our ancestors watch over us'.

'Our ancestors watch over us'.

It was a great feeling finally have my first solo show after all these years of being a working artist!

It was a great feeling finally have my first solo show after all these years of being a working artist!

Big thanks to The Sound Temple for hosting the exhibition.

Big thanks to The Sound Temple for hosting the exhibition.

'The people of the rainbow gather'. SOLD.

'The people of the rainbow gather'. SOLD.

'Celestial Connections' SOLD and 'Star Seeds' on the right.

'Celestial Connections' SOLD and 'Star Seeds' on the right.

I love doing large scale paintings! The more I do, the more I want to do!

I love doing large scale paintings! The more I do, the more I want to do!

Spoken word poetry performance at the opening night, with taonga pūoro accompaniment by Jerome Kavanagh.

Spoken word poetry performance at the opening night, with taonga pūoro accompaniment by Jerome Kavanagh.

'The many radiant descendants'.

'The many radiant descendants'.

Giving an artist talk on all the paintings and the concept for the exhibition. 

Giving an artist talk on all the paintings and the concept for the exhibition. 

'Do you think you're better than me?' a poem about Māori hating on other Māori

Here's a poem that I wrote some months back after witnessing several instances online of Māori hating on other Māori and ripping each other to shreds over various things in various ways. 

To me, we have enough battles outside of Māoridom to fight on a global scale as indigenous people and I do not believe in or support such attitudes and actions of hatred against anyone, let along against ourselves. In my opinion, cases of Māori hating on other Māori only weakens us all as a whole. As the saying goes, 'united we stand, divided we fall'.
 

'Kaua e whakaiti te tangata'

Do you think you're better than me?
With your university degree
Telling you how to be Māori
Oh the elitist snobbery
Well this is a free country 

And this is a contemporary
Generation
One Māori can never represent the entire population
I said this is a contemporary generation
And it's all about participation
Innovation
Not degradation

You think you're so traditional
Victoria Institutional
That's delusional 

The judge the jury and the hangman
Who gave you the mana
To whakaiti te tangata?

Your ego seeks to put down
In order to raise yourself up
From the gutter
Go ask your mother
What makes you Māori
She'll tell you
First it's whakapapa
It's whakapapa
It's whakapapa 

Got cousins in Australia?
Course you do
How do you think they'd take ya? 
Down on your knees
Stuck in jealousy
Pointing the finger
You're not a good Māori!

Aue te puhaehae
In the heart of the one on high
Get down off your pedestal
And peel some fucken potatoes

How deep is your matauranga
When you seek to shame another? 
How tika is your tikanga
When you laugh and mock
The one that most needs your manaakitanga? 

How tika is your tikanga?
How tika is that tikanga? 
What the fuck is that tikanga?

Kaua e whakaiti te tangata

Kei whea tou manaakitanga?
Or were you sick
On the day
They delivered that paper?

Reflecting on the opening of Toi Wāhine 2015 at 10 Hartham Pl, Porirua

On 2nd December myself and six other female Māori artists affiliated to the Porirua area (Xoe Hall, Pikihuia Carkeek-Haenga, Sophie Jolley, Miriama Grace-Smith, Sian Montgomery-Neutze, Keri-Mei Zagrobelna) had our exhibition opening for Toi Wāhine 2015 at 10 Hartham Place in Porirua.

Thanks to Urban Dream Brokerage who helped us to obtain the awesome space to have our show in. Thank you to everyone that came along to the opening event and made it such a special night!

Here are some photos from Toi Wāhine 2015 which ran for three weeks from 2nd - 22nd December 2015.

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Sold out art prints! Thanks to you guys!

Thank you to everyone that has been purchasing my art prints so far, I really appreciate your support and I love the idea of my art going all around the world and into peoples homes and personal lives. Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa!

These 'Te Waipounamu' prints were a limited edition run of 10 and they are now all sold out.

These 'Te Waipounamu' prints were a limited edition run of 10 and they are now all sold out.

Progress shot of 'Te Waipounamu' A3 drawing.

Progress shot of 'Te Waipounamu' A3 drawing.

Progress shot of 'Te Waipounamu' A3 drawing.

Progress shot of 'Te Waipounamu' A3 drawing.

My 'Ūkaipō' pink art prints as shown below were a limited edition run of 20 and they are now all sold out too.

$10NZD from every one of these art prints was donated to Kai4Kids, a New Zealand charity that provides food to schools in low decile areas. Together we donated $200NZD to this great kaupapa - thank you, thank you, thank you.

mana wahine toa ta moko maori tattoo wellington

My latest art print to sell out was an A4 limited edition run of 20 again, called 'Of course i'm a feminist' as shown below. Thanks to everyone that bought one!

mana wahine toa ta moko maori tattoo wellington
mana wahine toa ta moko maori tattoo wellington
mana wahine toa ta moko maori tattoo wellington

I am currently working on some more new limited edition art print designs (they are so much fun) so keep an eye out! Thanks again for buying my art, I am so grateful!