Mōrehu Ronald

Photographer: Symphony Morunga

Photographer: Te Rawhitroa Photography

SUBSTRATUM View work here

TAIOHI 2023

Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Wai.

Mōrehu uses their connection to the environment to inform their multidisciplinary art practice, using natural materials to investigate the bonds between people and place.

Grounded in their upbringing in Te Tara o Te Ika a Māui, Mōrehu’s work draws on materials of the taiao. A fellow friend of all Tānemahuta and Hinetūparimaunga's uri, Mōrehu's relationship with the taiao is deepened further by studying earth and environmental science at Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato.

Mōrehu’s framework is informed by their lived experience and knowledge of environmental science. On their hīkoi they collect materials that are remnants of lives lived in that particular wāhi - manu, shells, rākau, pigment. In this way, these materials are direct representations of the wāhi they were found. Mōrehu uses these materials along with symbolic references to depict the whakapapa and cultural context of a space.