Manawaroa
Natasha Keating
(Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi) 17 June – 15 July 2023
1. Papatūānuku, 2018
$12,500 pencil and wood stain on Rimu; 4440 x 760mm diptych
2. Mareikura III, 2018-2023
$2,950 pencil and woodstain on Kauri; 90 x 90 x 630mm
3. Mareikura IV, 2018-2023
$2,950 pencil and woodstain on Kauri; 90 x 90 x 630mm
4. Whakapono, 2023
$2,950 pencil and woodstain on Kauri; 100 x 90 x 465mm
5. Tūmanako, 2023
$2,950 pencil and woodstain on Kauri; 540 x 100 x 100mm
6. Aroha, 2023
$2,950 pencil and woodstain on Kauri; 427 x 96 x 98mm
Manawaroa
Translated as resilience ...
Manawa = heart. Roa = long
Resilience is a term indigenous cultures have claimed to describe our shared survival of Colonisation. Resilience comes after the endurance and survival of being threatened / challenged. Resilience proceeds the overcoming of trauma.
Matariki / Puanga musings ... the year that was and the year to come ... as we sit here in early June, in the in between, in wananga, in waiting for the re appearance of these stars, celestial signs that mark time and realigns us with ancestral knowledge and teachings. I am grateful for this time to reflect on the challenges and change that the Auckland Floods and Cyclone Gabrielle has brought to me personally and us collectively.
All the artworks in this exhibition were made in our home that was yellow stickered from the flooding. They managed to survive the floodwaters that turned our street and property into a river and took out most of our material life / possessions. They are survivors, all of these Pou Wahine, were made to recognise and honour our Mana Wahine strength beauty and resilience through our ancestral lineage and connection to where we come from, the land, the environment, the planet itself.
Papatūānuku grounds this exhibition. She grounds me. She is generous in her love and nourishment and reminds me of the reciprocation, the responsibilities we have to her. She was made in 2018 for the exhibition "Te Kopu" at Nga Tohu o Uenuku / Mangere Arts Centre.
Mareikura III and Mareikura IV were also made for "Te Kopu". Two of four Pou that symbolised the four corners of the whare. I re-worked them recently so that they could stand in their own individual mana.
Whakapono, Tūmanako, Aroha ... Faith, Hope and Love are some of the foundational elements Maori treasure and what I aspire to live by in order to maintain strength and resilience. To have faith in the A.I ...in our Ancestral intelligence not the artificial. To hope for the best future for the next generations and for our planet. To love generously and unconditionally.
Biography
Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland based Māori artist Natasha Keating creates contemporary pou, figurative works on recycled native timber.
In the whakapapa of Māori art, I align my practice with whakairo. I am influenced by the carvings of my ancestors and their storytelling of people, time and place. I rescue native wood to paint on and tell todays stories of wahine māori experiences and survival through colonisation. My portraits literally give face to indigenous strength, power, beauty and resilience.”
Keatings work has been shown extensively in Aotearoa and internationally. Selected exhibitions are Te Kōpū in collaboration with Bethany Matai Edmunds at Māngere Arts Centre Ngā Tohu o Uenuku (2018), Keating was included in the Beijing Biennale 2019 and in Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki 2021