Creative ID: 652
My arts or creative practice (including details about my specific focus within that art form/practice and my strengths):
I am a contemporary Māori visual artist. I have worked in multimedia including wood, stone, bone, and acrylic. My inspiration comes from nature and Toi Māori, traditional and contemporary. I am currently developing artworks with stencils and spray paint and sculptures with a combination of wood, acrylic, and lead lighting.
My track record of experience and success - or the track record of experience and success of the creative or artist that I will partner with:
I have undertaken over 120 commission artworks over a period of 33 years. My art has been displayed at the Michael Fowler Centre – a 4.8 m x 4.8 m painted Māori mandala wheel that was on display in the main foyer. I carved a ‘Pare’ entrance and two carvings about Te Awa Kairangi for the council building. I’ve been involved in several stone carving symposiums in Wellington and Taupō. My artworks can be found in many homes, gardens, and businesses all around Aotearoa and overseas.
Describe the experience you have had working with children or young people, teaching or facilitating creative processes:
I have worked with children at primary, intermediate, and college levels facilitating creative projects. I worked as a Māori art tutor (part time) for several schools and a youth facility. I ran a stencil painting course for 120 students from a local intermediate school in Lower Hutt. In my 20s, I did a lot of work with troubled youth as an outdoor pursuits’ instructor and Māori art tutor. I have also worked with children in a voluntary capacity on school holiday programmes, facilitating activity-based programmes for up to 80 children.
Why I want to be part of the Creatives in Schools programme and how my involvement will link to my creative practice:
I would like to share my experience with others and help them to explore the creative processes involved in developing an artwork for the benefit of the creator and the recipient. I want to encourage young and old to get involved in art as a way to express oneself or for therapeutic reasons. A way to work through urgent or past experiences or emotions.