FOR THE LOVE OF WHENUA

As a lover of whenua and whakapapa I spend much of my time in the embrace of Papatūānuku. It has been transformative for my journey through whakapapa and our return back home to engage with whenua in this way. For the love of whenua is a celebration of intimacy, whakapapa and magic held within the whenua we stand on and the whenua we hold within us.

Our connection to whenua in our creation is a process of drying and wetting whenua over and over to tell a story. I hope to highlight the beauty of every stage, every process, every texture and every story. The forms they take and the forms we see within ourselves.

The Aumoana, blue pigment, has been found on Hokianga Whakapau Karakia outside our home in Te Karaka, Panguru. I have observed and learnt so much about this pigment over the past 2 years, the hononga they have to the grey and yellow uku they are found alongside and the process of uku to kōhatu. To hold Aumoana within my hands and see the same pigment within my veins, within the waters of my awa and the maunga they transform from are my portals back to the Hokianga, back to myself.

When the day is done, all that is and all that will remain in the whenua.

For the love of whenua
For the love of whakapapa
Tiakina te taiao, Tiakina te iwi
Tihei! Mauri ora!

RINGATOI/ARTIST: Karen Leef
HAPŪ: Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Hineira, Te Uri Taniwha, Ngāti Korohue, Tau’tu
SIZE: W: 570mm H: 770mm D: 135mm
RAUEMI/MATERIALS: Mataī, Kōkōwai, Aumoana, Uku