Tangaroa’s wrath, Whakapapa and State of wa (critique) 1 and 2

1.

These three pieces of artwork were the result of my end of year exhibition for Toihoukura school of art and are my proud and joy.

The first artwork on the left is related to Okuri marae and represents the floods that tried to destroy Okuri wharenui(meeting house) which is the large mask in the centre.

The two female figures holding the koruuru(mask)represent the story that was passed down to me by my grandfather.
During seasons of continuous flooding the women of the tribe decided to relocate it out of harms way.

The piece is named Tangaroa’s wrath.

the most successful thing of this piece is the centre piece koruru, the way that it glares at you is amazing.

the most unsuccessful thing about this artwork is its message. the message is discrete to the artwork.

the most challenging thing for me was balancing different shades of blue to create a successful art piece.

the easiest thing to do was applying the primer paint.

i think the next thing to work on is my colour skills to create something like this piece but better.

The second artwork in this series located in the centre is also inspired by Okuri. It represents genealogical connections throughout the East Coast region.

The very bottom figure represents Kuri my female chief ancestor who lived during the 17th century, the figure representation flows upwards towards my grandfather William Turei Hindmarsh my most recent predecessor.

This artwork was named Okuri Whakapapa.

2.

the most successful thing on this painting is the complexity of the artwork and the sheer haunting when you look at it.

there was nothing unsuccessful about this work it is my best so far.

the easiest thing for this niece was the shading of the green sections.

the hardest thing to do was following composition.

in the future i want to better this artwork to really make it amazing.

the last artwork on the list is a reminder piece, a reminder to be thankful for waking up in a new day, to be able to spend time with the people that matter and to remind you to just live life to its fullest.

the clock at the top represents our sun, being our giant clock. the people at the bottom of it are the ones closest to me that I appreciate and couldn’t live without. the two figures at the top of this artwork is my interpretation of what an angel might look like.

wrath of tangaroa

this piece of artwork depicts a story that my koro told me of O kuri marae. The story goes that O kuri wharenui was constantly getting flooded by the rain. the women were sick of there home constant ally feeling the wrath of tangaroa so they picked it up on there sholders and moved it to a safe heathen. So the face in the middle represents the whare and the two figures at the bottom holding the head represent the women that moved it. the figures on the face represent the wieght of the people.

 

O kuri Marae

The story of this place is that the whare (Maori greeting house)was old and one of the first marae of the east coast, aswell as being the first of its kind . The people of that marae saved money to build a new one which was later established in mangatuna and was named Hinemeurea marae. Although they had this new one, O Kuri was left behind to lay in waiste. It is only recently that the people of Hinemeurea and other tribes have taken a stand and vested the rebirth of O Kuri. There are many things about this whare that really caught my attention,  The Windows were wide and the doorway was narrow, which is Odd, one of my kuia (nannies) later exsplained to me that the windows use to slide into the walls so that they could put thier deseased loved ones through the window I was so amazed. the structure itself was like a interlocked puzzle with the main pole in the middle supporting it. There were also no floors and it has been burnt once flooded 3 times with alot of dammage and she still stands today.

ressurection of O Kuri koruru

This facinating art work is in relation to O Kuri marae.I done it in the shape of a dog for a number of reasons, Kuri in maori means dog another reason is that my Grandfathers brother (Crazy as he is) Believed that there was a Dog Kaitiaki,,(Protector) around that Marae watching over it.

to fully understand this piece you will have to read the O kuri section