‍Glossary

Uku – clay

Kaiako – teacher

Tauira – student

Wānanga – Māori based learning

Rangatahi – young people

Kaupapa – ideas

Whakairo – design/form

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The artists' paths crossed professionally in the 1990s at Whitireia Polytechnic, in Porirua. Kaiako and tauira identified with each other’s creative processes taught within local wānanga-based education for rangatahi. Īnakinaki translates as 'to cover with overlapping layers' and reflects the layering of the artists' kaupapa and whakairo. Both artists consider whenua/landscape, whakapapa/genaeology and the narratives explored through the making process.

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Wi Te Tau Pirika Taepa

Wi Taepa, Te-Roro-o-Te-Rangi, Te Arawa, Te Āti Awa, is a master of Māori clay art, with a career spanning over 30 years. Taepa is celebrated for his unique practice - his works are predominantly hand built using coil, slab or pinch pot techniques. The artist has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally, including a solo exhibition at City Gallery Te Whare Toi Wellington in 2012 and a retrospective in 2018 at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Taepa has a Masters of Māori Visual Arts from Massey University, 2017; Bachelor of Fine Arts, Wanganui Polytechnic, 1999; New Zealand Certificate of Craft Design, Whitireia Polytechnic, 1992-1998; Māori Design Nga Hanga Whakairo, Massey University, 1997; Quantity Cookery, Māori Intensive Language course, Wellington Polytechnic, 1980; Penology, Acts and Regulation, Prison Staff College, 1978. He is held in the following collections: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, The Wallace Arts Trust.

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Kristin O’Sullivan Peren

Born in Rotorua, Kristin O’Sullivan Peren is now based in Central Otago. She is a multimedia artist whose practice responds to the extremes of land, language, and object. She uses light as the underlining agent that reveals the mistranslated history of her subject matter. Often drawn to subjects around waste, her work explores the colonial past as well as the fast acceleration of climate change and its links to humans. She explored similar themes in Ireland (in 1996) that resulted in land grabs, burning of natural resources and ultimately destruction of human life. Kristin O’Sullivan Peren’s work comes from a history as a print-maker, visible by a clear and developed methodology derived from materials and process. Recent large-scale projects extend within photographic, sculptural and electronic fields using both digital and analogue technologies. Her work has been exhibited in Ireland, Australia, England and Aotearoa New Zealand.

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Gina Matchitt

Gina Matchitt, Te Arawa, Te Whakatōhea is a New Zealand Māori jeweller, weaver, curator and artist. She grew up in Rotorua, New Zealand and studied jewellery at Unitec School of Design and  Māori Visual Arts at Toioho ki Apiti, Māori Visual Arts at Massey University. Drawing on her iwi affiliations, her work is a fusion of Māori and Pākeha practice, knowledge and concepts.  

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With thanks to The Dowse Art Museum and Pataka Art + Museum.

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Image: David Oakley