Tanya Ruka

Jan 2012

2012-01-23T12:47:00.008+13:00

The start of the year sees us traveling North to document & gather film footage of our family's historical places

Our family Marae Mahuri, named after a strong & independent ancestor -born from her line are the 3 families of Taheke, Waima & Otaua

Ngawha Springs belonged to my Great Grandad people would ride from all over the Far North to bathe in the healing waters

Rawene
Hokianga Art Gallery

next exhibition Fri 3rd Feb Opening night

Final Installation PG dip. 2011

2011-11-18T13:30:00.006+13:00

(small clip from the end of year installation of my work)

'Whataungarongaro te tangata toi tu whenua' - as man disappears the land remains - Māori proverb.

Titled and based on the Māori proverb this work explores the concept of connection and duration as they relate to the image we have of a moment in experience. The concept arises through the Māori notion of time 'I nga waa o mua' and extends to consider the connection between moments which are present to us, and those though not present are connected through Te Ao Wairua - as an ineffable presence through all duration.
Questioning how imagery might address the unseeable, the unknowable. Whataungarongaro te tangata toi tu whenua focuses on minor events in the natural environment, and their connection with major effects over extended duration.

mano tini

2011-08-28T05:20:00.017+12:00

"I am caught in the perplexing dialectics of deep and large; of the infinitely diminished that deepens, or the large that extends beyond all limits"

- Gaston Bachelard 'Poetics of Space'

Taking time to look and listen while the camera records these observations. I am exploring the concepts of connection & duration as they relate to the image we have of a moment in experience. Looking from the Maori concept of time I nga waa o mua, walk backwards into the future with your ancestors always before you. Time is all encompassing, the past exists in the present and feeds the future. This concept extends to consider the connection between moments which are present to us, and those which, though not present are connected through wairua -as an ineffable presence through all duration. In this respect I seek to explore how imagery might address the unseeable and the unknowable. I focus on minor events in the natural world, and their connection with major effects over extended duration.

*readings - looking at ways to weave together connections / interconnections:

'In the sand drawings of the universe, the grandmothers & grandfathers explained that each sand grain represented the different brothers & sisters of Papatuanuku, and that every space between the grains of sand represented mano tini, the thousands of measured forms of distance in time & space measurements. These drawings illustrated the vast distances of time & space. Of how the growth in the koru or frond of the universe was so simple, for it had multiple dimensional forms that radiated from the middle of the universe and away from each growing stem of creation. Then the grandmothers carefully made squares in the sand drawing. The houses were divided into earth, water, fire and air. These were to represent the terrestrial Te Mana Tai Whenua'
- Whispers of Waitaha Grandmothers Stories

...'and in the partial darkness he imagined he saw that form of a young man standing under a dripping tree. Other forms were near. His soul had approached that region where dwell the vast hosts of the dead. He was conscious of, but could not apprehend, their wayward and flickering existence. His own identity was fading out into a grey impalpable world: the solid world itself which these dead had one time reared and lived in was dissolving and dwindling.'
- James Joyce The Dead The Dubliners

The life of the mind is given form in the places and spaces in which human beings dwell, and those places shape and influence human memories, feelings and thoughts. In this way the spaces inner and outer -of mind & world- are transformed one into the other as inner space is externalised and outer space brought within.
- Gaston Bachelard

'The World is wholly inside & I am wholly outside of myself' - Merleau Ponty

16mm

2011-08-08T14:01:00.003+12:00

16mm workshop with Solomon Nagler

Using a Bolex camera, film & processing, tone, paint, draw & scratched back into the film & projected

E ānene ana

2011-07-18T09:00:00.006+12:00

...to breathe gently

Image: I made this work lying on Papatuanuku, camera on my chest & at full zoom ) into the canopy of Tane Mahuta. At this length the camera becomes hyper sensitive to movement, the rise & fall are the inhale & exhale.

Sound: recent storms have created pools & streams running through the trees

E Rakau o Tane Mahuta
E koe e koe e tu teitei nei
anei au te mokopuna ou
ka whai e au i te ora mo oku whanau
Ka mohio au, i nga matauranga a Wananga
Ko koe tenei ka ora e toku hapu
Mai o rau, peka me taikaka
Ka ora matou
E mihi nei

Tree of Tane Mahuta
You standing upright and straight
I am here, a grandchild of yours
I am here searching for the wellbeing
of my extended families
I understand the teaching
You are the one who will help my extended families
from your leaves, branches and bark
we will be well
I greet you

-whispers of waitaha grandmothers stories

Working with the land & sea

This semester I will be filming & using elements from the whenua to create animations & video works for the end of year projection installation.

Wai

2011-07-05T22:23:00.005+12:00

Awa River (water study)

Toku awa,
ko toku ora
toku awa
ko toku mana
toku awa
ko toku kaha
toku awa
ko toku wai rua

My river,
is my life
my river
is my authority
my river
is my power
my river
is my double spirit

-waitaha grandmothers

"there was first the waters of the world

e moko
kahore he ao
kahore hoki he maramatanga
he pouri noa, he wai katoa i te Tai Ao
enei wai i whakatupu i to ratou mana ki
nga moana nui o te ora
ka wehea a Ranginui raua ko
Papatuanuku
i reira ka heke ai nga
roimata aroha o Ranginui mo tona tau
roa te tangi, roa rawa te heke o nga roimata
ua ki raro
he tohu aroha, he tohu whakawehe, he tohu
tapu

mokopuna
there was no day
or the presence of light
darkness reigned, with only water
these waters became in their own right
the oceans of creation
and Ranginui and Papatuanuku were
separated.
It was from there that the tears of
Ua swept down
a symbol of love, a symbol of parting, a
sacred symbol"

-whispers of waitaha (grandmothers stories)

Video Life workshop with Ko Nakajima, Kentaro Taki & Yutaka Kusaba

Tao * Water element

"Water is the creator of time"

the beginning gives birth to water
the born water also collaborates with the
beginning, who gave birth to water; that way,
heaven is formed
the new born heaven also collaborates with the
beginning, who gave birth to heaven; then, the
earth is formed
the heaven and the earth collaborated with each
other to form the Shin Myung or the deity. The
Shin and the Myung collaborated so Yin and Yang are formed
Yin and Yang collaborated and formed the four
seasons. Spring and Summer, Autumn and Winter
collaborated with each other; then, the Cold and
the Hot are formed. Cold and Hot collaborated
with each other so Humidity and Dryness are
formed. Humidity and Dryness collaborated with
each other to form a Year. With this, the creation of the cosmos is completed.

Tao
Water element

Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2011

2011-06-07T19:44:00.023+12:00

Beautiful kohu rising up from the lake & surrounding mountains
Tutira
- tupuna tawhito arohanui

Awake at 5am Ruru calls & Marama still in the sky -perfection

* a little tribute to land artists Richard Long & Andy Goldsworthy while my daughter & I were building fairy huts

The 8hr road trip down to the Wairoa film festival to show 'Tawhirimatea' created the perfect opportunity to make some photo and film sketches. The next progression of my work is heading out to the whenua, I feel the need to be out on the land with my tupuna.

Tangaroa

2011-05-15T11:12:00.016+12:00

* landscape/seascape photo sketch for projections

* projections - moving image as my drawing process

* film stills sketch for Ranginui & Tangaroa projection

"there was first the waters of the world

e moko
kahore he ao
kahore hoki he maramatanga
he pouri noa, he wai katoa i te Tai Ao
enei wai i whakatupu i to ratou mana ki
nga moana nui o te ora
ka wehea a Ranginui raua ko
Papatuanuku
i reira ka heke ai nga
roimata aroha o Ranginui mo tona tau
roa te tangi, roa rawa te heke o nga roimata
ua ki raro
he tohu aroha, he tohu whakawehe, he tohu
tapu

mokopuna
there was no day
or the presence of light
darkness reigned, with only water
these waters became in their own right
the oceans of creation
and Ranginui and Papatuanuku were
separated.
It was from there that the tears of
Ua swept down
a symbol of love, a symbol of parting, a
sacred symbol"

-whispers of waitaha (grandmothers stories)

West coast film stills test strip for projections

Ive been paddling around the shallow end for almost a year, now its time to dive in
...so begins my work for Tangaroa

Tokotoko

2011-05-12T07:18:00.003+12:00

the long walk home... west coast storm walker

Kathmandu Gokarna Forest

2011-05-04T19:18:00.001+12:00

International year of the forest - moving image for projection -film will loop

Kathmandu Boudhanath Stupa

2011-05-01T15:33:00.001+12:00

Kathmandu Swayambhunath Stupa

2011-04-23T12:14:00.002+12:00

Kathmandu IFA Indigenous Film Archive

2011-04-20T02:21:00.017+12:00

Press Conference:

newspaper images by Zia-Wei Zhang (from the back) filmmakers Suvi West, Marie-Helene Cousineau, Denise Zmekhol, Kit Lee, Me, Zia-Wei Zhang, Alanis Obamsawin & Jennifer Machiorlatti

IFA Indigenous Film Archive
We met with the lovely director of the Film Festival Renchin. Also got to meet Nepali film makers & was given some of their short films to bring home to New Zealand

Thurs 21/4 9am-5pm Conference - The Evolving Indigenous Women

A conference organised by the Indigenous Film Archive in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples Caucus & Nepal Womens Federation of Indigenous Nationalities supported by Embassy of Denmark DANIDA & IDEA International

Key note speaker Alanis Obomsawin a member of the Abernaki Nation, she is 80yrs old and has been making documentary films for over 40yrs.

Begins with the screening of the archival film 'Mother of Many Children' that is an album of native womanhood, portraying a matriarchal society which has been pressured for centuries into adopting different standards and customs.

Alanis will share her observations on the current status of the indigenous woman in comparison to the time when she produced the film in 1975.

Jennifer Machiorlatti

an artist & educator is currently producing a documentary feature 'Matriarchal Voices: a story about storytellers'. Her independant media work & writing focuses on womens life experiences, freedom of expression & Indigenous cinema.

Suvi West

Sami film maker Suvi West grew up on the Finnish part of Sami land. Documentary & Film maker & Director of an Indigenous Peoples film festival Skabmagovat.

Denise Zmekhol

A native of Sao Paulo Brazil. In television production she combines a public affairs sensibility with a commercial directors visual acumen. She is currently producing a documentary with Google Earth Outreach to train Indigenous Amazonian tribes how to use Google Earth to create maps to record cultural traditions and to monitor the forest against illegal logging.

At the end of the conferece they will be drafting of the Kathmandu Declaration of Indigenous Women

Friday 22/4 will be the Festival Inauguration where my work Tawhirimatea will be projected on to both walls of the Town hall

Friday 22/4-Monday 25 Indigenous Films will be showing

Sat 23/4 - morning workshops: The Imaginative Way by Jason Ryle
Sun 24/4 - Point of View - Sharing Experiences & Challenges as Sami Woman Film maker by Suvi West
Monday 25/4 - Before Tomorrow by Marie Helene Cousinneau

Also Food Festival & Wearable Art: an art workshop & exhibition of indigenous traditions woven into wearable art, this is the collaboration that we'll all be working on

Kathmandu Town Hall

2011-04-20T01:59:00.014+12:00

Inauguration of the Film Festival: met so many talented people & we were all treated like royalty by the Nepali people -it was a life changing experience.

Townhall

This is the Kathmandu Town hall where the Inauguration night will be held. During this night my work Tawhirimatea will be projected on both walls of the hall & if the weather is clear outside during the collaborative workshops

Kathmandu Sirjana College of Fine Arts

2011-04-20T01:42:00.017+12:00

Day One Kathmandu
We went to visit a local art school, I presented my work to some of the artists & students. We also talked about a collaborative wearable art work that will be happening during the festival

Auckland Arts Festival 2011

2011-02-28T12:46:00.021+13:00

Tāwhirimātea God of the Wind

This work was created to project as a digital liminal space. A Turangawaewae-place to stand. Traditionally Turangawaewae is the Whenua land where you were born & live. It is the Marae-meeting house and it is your Whanau-family. All of these elements combine to make the individual. As I am of Italian and Maori descent I grew up in Europe and we moved between countries, I felt the need to create a mobile Turangawaewae within my art practice. A starting point to refer back to and to develop from. This showing will produce another side to the work, it was first projected in a large room; the floors reflected the light of the moving image and took the work outside of the space. During the White Night the work will be projected on to the homestead & into the garden, to add another dimension to its mobility. In April my family and I will take the work to Nepal Kathmandu as a means of connection between our cultures, also creating collaborative and film work which will add to my Masters research.

Tāwhirimātea

2010-11-21T12:06:00.023+13:00

'Tawhirimatea' God of the Wind
3 min loop
original 3 channel projection
oil paint/ sound/ video
*(reduced to 1 channel for this exhibition.)

Inspired by the concept 'I nga waa o mua' the 3 channels represent - Past/ Present// Future///
Time according to Maori: the present draws from the past, the past exists within the present & this potential feeds the future. A digital environment, an organic continuum. The howling wind soundscape and reflections take the work beyond the room & into the realm of 'other', a liminal space this work reflects my whakapapa-genealogy.

This work was made by hand using oil paint in a stopmotion animation process.
To create a fluid motion there are 25 frames (photographs) per sec, which means this work contains thousands of individual paintings. It took over 8 months to complete and develop the process.

Shadow play with Tāwhirimātea: flying, swimming, jumping

3x projection installation
(oil paint/ moving image// sound)

October Liminality

2010-11-21T12:02:00.012+13:00

Seminars/ Super Hybridity //& Liminal Space ///

Inspiration:
Creation Whakapapa
Na te kune te pupuke Na te pupuke te hihiri Na te hihiri te mahara Na te mahara te hinengaro Na te hinengaro te manako Ka hua te wananga Ka noho i a riko riko Ka puta ki waho ko te po, Ko te po nui, te po roa, Te po i tuturi, te po i pepeke, Te po uriuri, te po tangotango, Te po wawa, te po te kitea, Te po te waia, Te po i oti atu ki te mate. Na te kore i ai, Te kore te wiwia Te kore te rawea, Ko hotupu, ko hauora, Ka noho i te atea, Ka puta ki waho, te rangi e tu nei, Ko te rangi e tere tere ana I runga o te whenua Ka noho te rangi nui e tu nei Ka noho i a ata tuhi, ka puta Ki waho te marama, ka noho. Te rangi i tu nei, ka noho i a Te werowero, ka puta ki waho Ko te ra, kokiritia ana Ki runga, hei pukanohi Mo te rangi, ka tau te Rangi, Te ata tuhi, te Ata rapa, te ata ka Mahina, ka mahina Te ata i hikurangi.

From the conception the increase, From the increase the thought, From the thought the remembrance, From the remembrance the consciousness, From the consciousness the desire, The word became fruitful; It dwelt with the feeble glimmering; It brought forth night: The great night, the long night, The lowest night, the loftiest night, The thick night, to be felt, The night to be touched, The night not to be seen, The night of death. From the nothing the begetting, From the nothing the increase, From the nothing the abundance, The power of increasing, The living breath; It dwelt with the empty space, and produced the atmosphere which is above us, The atmosphere which floats above the earth; The great firmament above us, dwelt with the early dawn, And the moon sprung forth; The atmosphere above us, dwelt with the heat, And thence proceeded the sun; They were thrown up above, as the chief eyes of Heaven: Then the Heavens became light, The early dawn, the early day,The mid-day. The blaze of day from the sky.

September Singularity

2010-11-21T12:00:00.008+13:00

oil paint moving image projections

Hybridity

2010-07-17T14:25:00.008+12:00

Semester 1: Te Po

This semester I have been working hybridity and developing an experimental paint stop motion animation process. Semester 2 I will be progressing the work & incorporating layers of sound. This film is based on Te Po the first part of creation before the light. Te Po translated is the dark, the night & also references 'Hine-nui-te-po' the Maori mythological Goddess of the night and the eternal night -death.

(projections of the film experiments & setup)

Drawn

2010-07-17T14:07:00.005+12:00

"Bottomless wonders spring from simple rules which are repeated with out end.."
- Benoit Mandelbrot

At the end of the 1st semester I was left with itchy hands & the need to keep creating, so I prepared a 1m board & started drawing, working intuitively with no plan allowing my hand & mind freedom

by the time I had finished I was looking at an other worldly cell-scape, replicating & regenerating structures, moving at differing speeds across the board. I was then able to concentrate on progressing semester 1 work and preparing for semester 2

2010.. so far

2010-04-19T21:42:00.013+12:00

It's the last year of Bachelor of Visual Arts & I've been very busy. I am concentrating on Maori design elements & creating stop motion works from the drawings/paintings.

These Manaia -protective creatures mythological & real are created from drawings & flax. Traditionally Manaia & Poupou are carved from wood & are found on Marae Maori meeting houses

Tribal Memory & Genetic Bar Coding

2009-10-10T08:56:00.019+13:00

Final drawing/graphic Whakapapa o nga Whenua

Digital drawing on acrylic & LED lighting
Final light drawing - 'Whakapapa o nga Whenua'

Maori are taught to walk backwards into the future with our Tupuna ancestors always before us. As a Maori artist I have a rich cultural heritage to draw from. I am interested in identity, culture, ancestry and our genetic link to the Whenua land. Over the past year I have been researching genetics. At first it was a challenge to prove the importance of my tribal history above scientific evidence. However the more I read, the more interested I became in the similarities and corresponding information. I hoped to use the language and symbols of both to juxtapose both scientific and tribal knowledge. From this point I wanted to explore DNA codes and the bar coding of genetic information, parallel to Whakapapa and Pepeha (genealogy patterns) encoded into traditional Maori weaving. Using digital photography, moving image, print and projection, I want to portray genetic and tribal information as symbiotic digital worlds of light.

This work & 'Kaitiaki' will be on display in the office of the Chief Executive of Manukau Institute of Technology over the break.

Drawing Paper Evolution- the process: text work

1st generation.

Mokopuna
Grandchild

2nd generation.

Pepeha
my genetic link to the whenua/land

3rd generation.

wairua/ pepeha
interconnection of mind/body/spirit/whenua
grandmother teachings

4th generation.

drawing together & layering tribal memory my own form of genetic barcoding

5th generation.

6th & final generation?

'nga whakapapa whenua'
Encoded with the genealogy of the land. I still have 2 weeks left & so far this is the top contender for the lightbox

"e moko, nga whakapapa whenua
anei ka moe... " - whispers of waitaha

Matariki Exhibition 2009

2009-06-30T21:35:00.008+12:00

Seven Stars of Matariki
Digital work on acrylic custom made LED ribbon strip lighting
& Universe moving image projection

A concept of generations.. a paper sculpture..evolved to photo.. then film.. then graphic..now light sculptures...

The evolution of man into stars..

The work ‘Kaitiaki’ is a contemporary birthing of ancient knowledge which has been passed from many generations. In Maori Kaitiaki are animals or mystical creatures that guide and protect humanity. This work began as a paper sculpture. As in ancient tradition the figures were linked by hands and feet and joined in a circle, to symbolise the generational cycles of life and death, birth and rebirth. Then through an evolutionary process of digital photographing and film the ‘Kaitiaki’ were reborn into the contemporary world.

Small video clip of my digital weaving projecting on the gallery wall - opening night.
This piece was inspired by the Maori creation myth of Ranginui God of the Sky & Papatuanuku Goddess of the Earth who were separated during the creation of the world. I have digitally woven the lovers back together as Taniko pattern, traditionally made by weaving flax leaves

A huge thank you to my good friend Barry from All West Electrical, Light Industry & technopix NZ Ltd for sponsoring me & providing me with the LED Ribbon Strips to light my stars.

Symbolism

2009-03-28T09:21:00.016+13:00

Paintings:
First 4 of 12 - 12 will make a final work.
mixed media on board
30cm

The first few weeks have been busy; gathering information, researching & defining our personal practice. I've been photographing, filming, drawing & painting.
I work in cycles photo/ moving image/ drawing/ painting then recycling. The paintings are based on my interest in symbolism from my culture & other cultures along the trade routes traveled by my ancestors. Hidden meanings within symbols, traditions & belief systems; kept secret over centuries regarding life, world, universe.

The starting point moving image stills: photographs of wood & concrete patterns that looked like symbols & enhanced using film.

* will upload final work when completed

Home coming...

2009-01-25T21:03:00.029+13:00

My family & I visit Te Kohanga & The Valley of the Teachers
(home of our ancient ancestors)

6am Daybreak in the valley

Cool mountain rivers

Te Kohanga - Midday 24/01/09 37 degrees.

Uncle, sharing the knowledge of our ancestors...

..."As Te Ra climbed over the horizon to warm the heavens we remembered that light is life, and darkness death, and we walked stronger in the ways of Rongo Marae Roa.
Then the glowing rays of the Sun swept aside the last of the night to send fire to caress a soaring wall of rock. It stands straight and true to cleave the land as the light cleaves the darkness. This is the rock where time began; we entrust its mana to those still to be born..."

"no one knows today will be followed by tomorrow
no one is sure the seed we plant will grow
no one is certain life continues
everything is a gift..."

- exerts from 'Song of Waitaha' The Grandfathers Stories

Taniko - digital weaving

2008-05-24T11:29:00.018+12:00

Tiki - animating components of the digital weaving

Filming the whakapapa paper sculpture creating a digital weaving of ancestry

'The people of the spider, Ngai Pungawerewere, were the customary, traditional keepers of all the whakapapa in Waitaha..
starting from the glimmer in the sky of the first light, would relate the whakapapa of all the universe sensed, seen and present, from the dark of the night, to the glimmer of light in the universe, into the brightest of lights then the slow shadow of the beckoning darkness of the night, into the darkness of resting again..'
- Waitaha Grandmothers

The song I was listening to while filming the whakapapa sculpture is 'Inner Strength' by Beyond Maya

Film stills:

Taniko is a traditional maori weaving technique the patterns hold meanings; sewn onto korowai or cloaks.
I filmed my chalk drawings of DNA strands & taniko stitching. I wanted to portray the movement of digitally weaving my whakapapa or genealogy into the light drawing project film.

Film stills:

Navigational Systems (part2) - 2nd film in production

2008-05-17T18:27:00.018+12:00

Kaitiaki

Drawing with light:
The 2nd film I'm making is a drawing project
Constellations used by my ancestors to navigate the Pacific ocean

These images represent my whakapapa or ancestry & genealogy.
Ancient indigenous cultures would use repetitive patterns of figures joined by hands, feet or heads to represent the lines of ancestry.
I made ancestral paper figures and turned them into light drawings - I love the heart or Tiki that appeared while I was experimenting with long exposures.

'Moko
Who are you?

I am the grandchild of Grandmother Earth
and who else?
And Grandfather Sky before me.
Now then grandchild,
Recite to us your location information so we can hear....

E moko
Ko wai koe?

Ko au te Mokopuna o Papatuanuku
Me wai atu?
Me Ranginui e tu nei
Tena e moko
Korerotia e to pepeha kia rongo e matou...'

- Grandmothers of Waitaha

DeSIGNs

2008-03-28T10:40:00.011+13:00

'eye perceive'

'sensory overload'

'desensitized'

'x's & o's'

Images: Urban environment - Graphic composite street signs
Sensory Overload

Nga Whetu Tohutohu - The Beacon Stars

2008-03-23T19:12:00.018+13:00

Drawing Ancestral Navigational Systems - Star constellations:

'Drawing Northern & Southern Hemisphere Star Charts'

Constellations:
Matariki / Pleiades
Mahutonga / Southern Cross
Uruoa / Alpha Centauri

'Matariki Manu Paho / Matariki Bird N.E.W.S'

...'Sea journeys were woven into the web patterns of the spider keepers
guardians of the memory trails...'

- exert 'Whispers of Waitaha'

'Star-glyphs'

'Handmade Star trails'

Drawing
Images hand drawn mixed media on paper - Southern Hemisphere

Sewing Networks through Time

2008-03-13T12:57:00.011+13:00

Imagery:

Imagery from Drawing Paper - Networks & Systems

'Star' Imagery:
My depiction of my uncle Mackie's journey around the world,
sent by my grandmother Wikitoria Rangitakina matriarch of Waitaha
to reopen the pathway of communication between indigenous people

Both eternally loved & missed ...

Street Signs & Symbols

2008-03-08T09:08:00.018+13:00

The New Year Begins - Major Paper

Urban Environment Brief:

Working to a brief is always challenging & exciting. Over the summer I have been reading about signs & symbols of ancient civilisations. The pyramids of Egypt, Mexico & Cambodia, the placement on the Earth & astronomical meanings, the Nazcan lines in the desert of Peru, cave drawings & hieroglyphs - are all ancient symbols gifted to us by our ancestors. My mind was already immersed in symbols & signs so I decided to go out into the city & photograph street signs. Here I have taken the signs & morphed them into my own symbols with a new personal meaning. There is nothing more 'urban' than street art, the signs, symbols & meaning that these street artists have developed & the speed in which they are created is amazing. I have always dreamed of covering walls in colour & light - obviously my ancestry coming out!

Cave painters + Hieroglyphs on Pyramids + Frescoes in Cathedrals + Street art
= 'the writing's on the wall'

Pakiri

2008-01-19T13:53:00.003+13:00

Sunrise

2007-06-20T08:23:00.001+12:00

10/06/07 6:15am Sunrise
A warm rosey glow, beautiful colour and light, permeate my dreams

Whakapapa

2006-11-06T15:49:00.000+13:00

Light Installation:

You are in a dark room, the film covers the entire wall from floor to ceiling. The speakers and the volume of the heartbeat are loud enough to feel the vibration through your body.. the heartbeat sounds almost like a drum beat. A call from your ancestors - hear us.
As the 'stars' disappear they shoot lines of light across the floor.. Walk into its light and your shadow is cast into the universe.. as the film ends you are left in the darkness with just the sound of the heartbeat.. remember

In Loving Memory of my first light - My Mama

The Key

2006-07-18T08:57:00.000+12:00

Image: Tupuna - Ancestor
Mark making / painting / photograph / photocopy to acetate / on lightbox / photograph

Sometimes you have to dig deep to discover your ancestry...

Ki nga hau tapu, tawhito
Ki nga kawai rangatira tuturu
Ki nga toto ariki o nga atua
Ki nga maunga korero, karanga, karakia
Ki nga awa manawa, manaaki, tiaki a tatou
Ki nga hapu, nga whanau
Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou
E koutou, e tatou

Pepeha:

It is very important in my culture (Maori) to know where you came from, whanau (family) ancestry, and how you relate to the whenua (land)...

Taku tupuna ko Rongomaraeroa - my ancestor Rongomaraeroa
Taku waka ko Uru Ao - my canoe Uru Ao
Taku maunga ko Puhanga Tohoroa - my mountain Puhunga
Taku awa ko Tahekeroa - my river Tahekeroa
Taku marae ko Mahuri - my family meeting house Mahuri
Taku hapu ko Ngatipakau - my sub tribe Ngatipakau
Taku iwi ko Waitaha nui tonu - my tribe Waitaha nui tonu
Taku whaea ko Mihingarangi - my mother Mihingarangi
Taku ingoa ko Tanya - my name Tanya