Whaia Ngā Tauira

“Whaia Ngā Tauira

Hei Kete Aronui”

A rākau that I have come to love, that has grown so much in my garden over this last year is Whauwhaupaku. My exploration into the botanical dyes of our native trees has been a deep dive, a journey from the depths of Papatūānuku to the stars in the sky.

The bark patterns of this tree remind me of stars and my journey led me to a flower fungus called Puapua a Atutahi that looks like a star! Atutahi is Canopus one of the brighter stars that Tāne Mahuta hung in the southern sky. Atutahi is also another word for inanga (white bait) when they return to sea and the scientific name of white bait is Galaxias Maculatus. Galaxias meaning milky, as in Milky Way – Te Ika Roa which led me on a hikoi to our origins as fish! That is a whole story in itself!

Everything is connected – in Te Ao Māori nothing sits in isolation and te reo Māori is a beautiful reminder of that with all our kupu connecting to the environment in some way.

This was another reminder for me that time and space is non-linear – past, present, future are intricately woven through life, circular and connected.

I love nature’s asymmetry, but every form is intentionally grown and placed.

When creating my designs for new art works, I look at the patterns of the tree – bark, leaves, stalks, seeds, flowers and the light that is captured with my camera, the shadows cast and the imprints they make as well as the imprints that nature creates. I think about the positive and negative forms that our tūpuna created and how nature creates these forms too.

The trees inform the designs, the language, the stories that are to be created through the patterns, often repetitive to reflect the flow and movement of life. Because nothing is ever stagnant. Life is a continuous cycle.