This Māori girl went to New York for the first time...

It was a three part trip - my partner, taonga puoro artist Jerome Kavanagh had a performance at The Lincoln Center to attend, I did a guest spot tattooing at NY Adorned, and I took over a capsule collection of art work to be exhibited at Ora Ny Gallery by the Toi Wāhine Collective. Phew it was an amazing whirlwind two trip and New York was so good to us, and I am so grateful to all of the inspiring conscious people we met over there!

Our Toi Wāhine Collective two day pop up shop at Ora Ny Gallery was off the hook!

I was very grateful to have esteemed contemporary Māori dancers Jack Grey, Louise Potiki Bryant, members of Altamira Dance Crew and their indigenous friends come and perform at our pop up shop on the final evening at the gallery.

Very grateful to New Zealand musicians Andrew White, Paddy Free of Pitch Black and Jerome Kavanagh for performing live in the gallery on both evenings at our pop up shop.

With my Navajo friend Precious at Ny Adorned after tattooing her.

Resin jewelry by Evelyn Ross that was part of the capsule collection I took to New York.

Hanging outside Ora Ny Gallery with New Zealand Photographer Nichola Clark and friend.

Moko completed for a Taranaki born client at Ny Adorned.

Dressed up and ready to roll out for one of my first nights in New York City!

With all of the amazing dancers that graced the exhibition space on the final evening of our pop up shop exhibition.

Kirituhi completed for an African-American woman at Ny Adorned.

The performance that my partner was invited to be a part of at The Lincoln Center was pretty awe inspiring!

I buzzed out on how many psychic shops were in NYC - they seemed to be as common as dairies are in New Zealand!

Taaniko work by Kui Topia that was part of the Toi Wāhine Collective pop up shop.

With New York based Māori gallerist John Royal and his daughter.

Kirituhi for my new friend Grace from Trinidad and Tobago at Ny Adorned.

Tattooing an American born Māori man at NY Adorned.

With new friends Keke and Giarna Te Kanawa, gallerist of Ora Ny Gallery.

Kirituhi at Ny Adorned for a Columbian woman.

Being a poser in the back of a New York yellow cab.

At Ora Ny Gallery.

With a Hawaiian Māoli woman that I met at the gallery, it was so great meeting so many Polynesians from all over in New York.

Outside Ny Adorned.

At the after party of The Lincoln Center performance, 'Calling All Dawns'.

With my new friends Tiff and Sammay at Ora Ny Gallery.

So awesome getting to meet indigenous First Nations performer, Supaman at The Shrine in Harlem.

A projected image of contemporary Māori jeweler, Keri-Mei Zagrobelna on the wall of Ora Ny Gallery as part of a moving portraits film installation by Pikihuia Haenga that was part of our pop up shop exhibition. 

My New York family on the trip.

Partay time at the gallery once all the work was finished.

Posey posers.

With new friends Amy and Cristina at the gallery.

A selection of the capsule collection by Toi Wāhine Collective at Ora Ny Gallery.

With my new friend Sammay, Filipino dancer.

Moko completed for an American born Māori man at Ny Adorned.

My most recent trip tattooing in Nelson, South Island, New Zealand

I enjoy traveling to Nelson at least once a year to work on my awesome clientele there. I have heaps of whanau in Nelson and it is always great to catch up with them when I am in the area.
 
I always seem to be given some kind of kaimoana when I am down south and for that I am very grateful!

Eating out is one of the thrills of life for me and so far my favorite restaurant in Nelson is Cod and Lobster and I totally recommend them over anywhere in Nelson that I have tried thus far!

This was my favorite song of the trip.

Here are a few photos of my most recent trip to Nelson 27th - 29th December 2015.

Indigenous Ink 2015

On 20 - 22 November 2015, I attended Indigenous Ink in Auckland, a gathering of indigenous tattooers from around the world - it was by far the best 'convention' I have been to and was one of my favourite hui that I have ever attended! It was great meeting other indigenous artists from all around the world, and I loved that the focus of this gathering was on 'cultural practitioners'.

Tattooers came to this special and unique gathering from Norway, Alaska, Los Angeles, Samoa, UK, Hawai'i, Tahiti, Japan, Taiwan and more. There was a strong Aotearoa contingent of moko artists too which was awesome.

Here is an article about Indigenous Ink 2015 written by Sean Mallon of Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum of New Zealand.

This episode of Te Kaea also has a short feature on Indigenous Ink 2015 (at around 20.00 mins).

My trip to Melbourne tattooing at Tatt Datt in Fitzroy was awesome

My recent trip to Melbourne was fantastic and I enjoyed catching up with old and new clients and friends. Thank you to everyone that came to see me and made my trip so much fun! I love the Fitzroy area and had a great time tattooing at Tatt Datt on Johnston Street.

Here are a few of my favourite places and spaces to visit in Melbourne:

Morrocan Soup Bar on St Georges Road (I recommend ordering the banquet): Best kai EVER!
Polly's Cocktail Bar on Brunswick Street: Best absinthe, cocktails, decor, and service EVER!
National Gallery of Victoria: Just go there and see for yourself.
St Kilda Sea Baths: Salt water pool, hot pool and an excellent steam room, oh yes.
North Yoga: My new fav yoga studio in North Fitzroy, worth a visit if you're into yoga.
Perfect Potion on Brunswick Street: The most divine oils, herbal potions, skincare, chakra balancing balm, aromatic mists and the like. Gorgeous.

Whilst in Melbourne I got to go check out an awesome cultural documentary called 'Escape to St Croix' about Rastafarianism and reggae culture in St Croix of the Virgin Islands. If you're into reggae, permaculture, sustainable living, rasta culture, gardening, vegetarianism - I totes recommend you watch this documentary.

Without further adieu, here are some flicks of my trip.

Ngā mihi,
Taryn

This was one of my favourite pieces of the trip, I always love working on thighs.

Kirituhi for a very nice man on his calf.

Working shot taken by my friend and client, photographer Aaron Stevenson.

Outside the studio. I really enjoyed working here. Big thanks to my host!

With an awesome client in the studio.

Working on this calf piece.

Being a poser outside the studio.

Moko kauae: a sneak peek

I recently spent about a week tattooing in Taihape at Winiata Marae. In general I mostly prefer to stay within my own rohe, and work within areas that I have some whakapapa link or affiliation to (except when I am overseas) - that's just how I prefer to roll whenever possible. However since my partner invited me to work in his rohe at his marae, I was more than happy to pack up my gear and head to Taihape. Furthermore, marae are one of my absolute favorite places to work, along with galleries and museums, so I jumped at the chance to work inside the whare there. As it happened, I did discover a link between my extended whānau and the whānau at Winiata Marae.

It was snowing and really freezing cold the week that we were there, as you can tell by my attire! It's hard to stay fashionable when you are so cold!

Whilst in Taihape I had the pleasure and privilege of tattooing a moko kauae for a local kuia. For me, moko kauae is the epitome of my tā moko practice and it is my favorite type of moko to do. Moko kauae has always been a strong motivating force for me and a large part of why I got into, and have stuck at tā moko. I want to see more and more wāhine Māori take on and wear their moko kauae with pride, strength and dignity - particularly within my own whānau, hapū and iwi. 

Some friends of mine at Kikorua Films came and stayed with us for part of our trip and made a little film clip and took some photos. I think they did a great job of capturing the essence of the environment we were working in, and the mahi that we did there.

Moko kauae is a very special and important kaupapa. If you would like to talk me about getting your own moko kauae done, please email me on taryn.teuira@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading!

My first trip to Paris: City of art, love and museums!

In May 2014 I was blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Paris with my baby and my mother, to attend the opening of an exhibition at Musee du quai Branly, called 'Tattooers, Tattooed' that featured one of my paintings. 

My painting featured in the exhibition at Musee du quay Branly in Paris.

While I was in Paris for the exhibition opening, I also did some tattooing. Most of the people that got kirituhi by me were French - and all of them were very respectful, grateful and appreciative of Māori culture.

Freehand draw up for one of the kirituhi I made in Paris, before the tattooing process begins.

The finished kirituhi.

The view from our coffee spot one morning at Musee du quai Branly.

We were there for about two weeks, and it was awesome! It was my first time in Europe and I definitely want to go back there. We stayed in an apartment close to the Eiffel Tower and Musee du quai Branly for the first week, and then we moved to the Montemartre Arrondissement which is known for hosting many artists over the centuries, including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Vincent Van Gogh. I really liked the diversity of the Montemartre area, and there was heaps to see and do there.

All set to leave our apartment on our very first morning in Paris! 

Some of the things that I loved about Paris:

The museums. They seemed to have a museum for everything imaginable! Visiting Musee du Louvre was definitely a highlight.

One of the amazing ceilings at Musee du Louvre!

I loved the numerous depictions of the mother and child at Musee du Louvre.

The food. Of course Paris is known for its cuisine and wine, and it did not disappoint! Breakfast, lunch and dinner was always a treat, and I loved to have my morning coffee at a little cafe on the street, watching all the different people go by.

The attention to detail. I really noticed how seemingly everything is beautified or ornately detailed in some way. The most unexpected and mundane things had the effort and time put into making them aesthetically pleasing. Presentation in Paris is really big and it was lovely to experience such attention to detail.

Catching the metro out to the suburbs with some of my friends from Newtown, Wellington (yes they were in Paris at the same time as me!) to watch a Rod Taylor reggae gig was some unexpected fun!

A spontaneous freestyle jam in the streets of Montmartre with some new friends we had just met that had a guitalele (the first time I had ever seen such an instrument) was a really memorable moment.

Going on an impromptu adventure on foot and by metro, around Paris with my Italian client-turned-new-friend, Domenica, was really enjoyable.

Eating small portions of several delicious dishes whilst standing up at a tiny place in St Germaine with another new friend was pretty cool - and walking around the streets afterwards, looking in the windows of all the art galleries of that area was the best part.

The fashion. There are so many people from all around the world in Paris, and I loved checking out all of the different styles that people were rocking. Even the men get into fashion over there, and they were super stylish!

Hat that I customized over there. I find a hat useful when i'm tattooing as it keeps the hair out of my face.

An example of the sheer awesomeness peppered throughout the city. This was just down the road from our first apartment.

They even had a Museum of Eroticsm!

I met some great people and made some cool friends and I am super grateful and appreciative for the experience! Thank you Paris! Here is a French article about the Māori section of the exhibition in Paris.