2 minute read
HUMANS OF ŌTAUTAHI
Jon
NORTH NEW BRIGHTON
“I’m a Māori Fijian-Indian guy who was brought up in Invercargill, in a place that was predominantly European. From a young age, I was constantly thinking about my identity because I looked so different from everyone else. I was not European, I was not Māori, nor was I Indian, as these were communities we had very little contact with. I felt alienated. So, I guess my whole practice, pounamu, and portraiture centres around identity. Ko Wai au? Who am I?
“I must have been 24 years old when we (expartner and daughter) moved up to Greymouth. We fell in love with the scenery; I dabbled in landscape painting. I could sit there and paint all day. But then I found greenstone and thought, I want to explore and play with this thing. I spent the next six years in Greymouth carving greenstone. I decided I needed to come here and get a degree. We moved our family from Greymouth to Christchurch, and in 2014 I left uni with a Master’s in Painting. I’m now a teacher at Ao Tawhiti teaching senior level Art, and on the odd occasion, I’m able to find the time to carve.
“I’ve been working with pounamu for 18 years and have taught many the art of carving. There’s such an immediacy to the process as after a few hours of work, you’ve got a finished piece. My wife Irihapeti and I formed a trust as we saw a need to develop a kaupapa to deliver and guide whānau about this precious taonga.
“The trust is based in North New Brighton; our home base is called Tūhono Taonga Tūhono Tāngata.
“It’s about finding a way to engage with people. We all have stories as to what pounamu means to us intergenerationally. I get to make taonga for people, you know, for events, for key milestones in people’s lives. I’m the pounamu guy.”
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TOKORIKI ISLAND, MAMANUCA ISLANDS NADI, FIJI
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