Te Hīkoi Toi: Breaking rocks to create art

Rangimarie Sophie Jolley on Māori artists working with earth pigments

There’s a revolution happening. Out there in the world, curious but learned foragers are breaking rocks, crumbling them, and combining them with all manner of substances and creating something spectacular.

There are a growing number of these earth pigment creators coming out of the corners of each rohe.

Across the whenua, the knowledge of our ancestors is feeding new generations of artists and creatives through the stories trapped within these humble hued rocks.

Groups such as the Kauae Raro Research Collective (He Kapunga Oneone) and countless individuals (both Māori and non-Māori) are feeding this revolution.

READ MORE:
* Te Hīkoi Toi: Knowing where we’re going and where we’ve been
* Te Hīkoi Toi: The loss of innocence and intergenerational healing
* Te Hīkoi Toi: Art of the Anthropocene

Through their tireless efforts, access to this knowledge base is growing and resources continue to be developed and shared (often for free to the consumer) online and through wānanga.

There are established practitioners redefining their practices to incorporate their expanding knowledge.

For renowned visual artist, educator and writer Sian Montgomery-Neutze (Muaūpoko, Ngai Tara), this has been a lifelong pursuit and an invaluable source of inspiration.

As also an established Tā Moko practitioner, Montgomery-Neutze has gained notoriety for her ability to reflect stories on skin, alongside her reputation for wisdom through her sharp intellect and generous nature.

Her natural talent for simplifying design whilst creating something truly unique and inspiring for the wearer has contributed to her popularity on Instagram and other platforms.

A strength of character and dedication to the betterment of ngā mea Māorikeeps her audience hooked. Montgomery-Neutze is relentless in her quest to create something new that captures the ngako of a kōrero (the essence of a story) and reflects it back to our people in new and inspiring ways.

Tae Whenua is her latest contribution to this ever-expanding koha (gift) to ngā toi (Māori visual arts).

Hosted by the dynamic Ihorei Gallery on Taranaki street, the showcase is a masterful demonstration of the magic within both earth pigment exploration and the art of adornment.

It includes several paintings on natural fibres alongside carved tāonga consisting of bone, pounamu and other earth materials.

The pigments come from a variety of sources – a number of which through an elaborate series of trades amongst the rock breaking community.

The works are individually striking, but there’s also a number of Easter eggs enabling the beholder to dive deeper into the knowledge stored within the body of work.

Each work is custom framed with great care and accompanied by samples of the earth pigments used to create the work.

The kōrero whakamārama (explanations) speak directly to a diverse range of experiences throughout the show.

In the painting, ‘Tiki’, Montgomery-Neutze explores the concept of whakapapa and its dynamic facets – namely, the potential for characteristics imbued in us from birth. The use of five different earth pigments and the consistent pattern that the tiki are depicted within leave you in a state of reflection. For this beholder, that reflection ended with a sense of gratitude for my ancestors and the gifts they have imbued in me.

It’s the care taken with the relationship with the viewer that makes Montgomery-Neutze’s work unique.

In ‘Nioreore’, a lone yellow tuna twists its way through the backdrop of dark blue to demonstrate their often lonely journey home. In this piece, there is a deep sense of compassion. This work was created to comfort the lonely among us, using our mātauranga to provide solace in that realisation.

In ‘Māui’, Montgomery-Neutze inverts the role of the infamous ancestor and trickster atua, Māui.

His role in our stories has been popularised by many hands, however it’s the use of his final form here that really reflects the intentions of the artist. By depicting Māui as a mokomoko (lizard), the artist is also giving a nod to the form in which he met his final demise – at the mercy of Hine-nui-te-Pō. Here, it’s the recognition of the role played by our atua wāhine (female gods) that lingers.

The carved bone and pounamu pieces here are as delicate and refined as they are visually striking. However, the most remarkable ‘thread’ woven throughout the entire showcase is the great care taken by the artist to ensure that everyone who engages with the pieces comes away with something. Be it something realised, something reflected, learned or felt.

Tae Whenua is the beginning of a new world for contemporary art, by an artist who’s impact on our people can’t be measured by words. An absolute must see.

Tae Whenua at Ihorei Gallery, until 3 May