TE RONGO KIRKWOOD

Te Rongo Kirkwood Nga Kakahu Karaihe 11 April to 6 May 2015

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

Milford Galleries Dunedin 18 Dowling Street (03) 477 7727 info@milfordhouse.co.nz

Photo: David Shields

Turua Po (Puriri) (2014) glass, flax fibre, waxed cord, rare native wood, size on wall: 1230 x 1070 x 110 mm

1

Photo: David Shields

Turua Po (Black Maire) (2014) glass, flax fibre, waxed cord, rare native wood, size on wall: 1300 x 1000 x 70 mm

2

Photo: Matt Smith

Turua Po (Rewarewa) (2014) glass, flax fibre, waxed cord, rare native wood, size on wall: 1430 x 1040 x 60 mm

3

Photo: David Shields

Nga Tuaitara o Taikehu (Black, Bone & Amber) (2014) glass, flax fibre, waxed cord, size on wall: 820 x 1140 x 190 mm

4

Photo: David Shields

Nga Tuaitara o Taikehu (Black & Red) (2014) glass, flax fibre, waxed cord, size on wall: 970 x 1260 x 190 mm

5

Photo: David Shields

Nga Tuaitara o Taikehu (Black & White) (2014) glass, flax fibre, waxed cord, size on wall: 810 x 1220 x 190 mm

6

Te Rongo Kirkwood’s glass cloaks combine elements from Western and Maori art traditions, creating new ways to express meaning. The physical structure of each cloak is a concrete metaphor for its narratives; were any one of the individual elements removed, the exquisite balance of the work would disappear. In its entirety each cloak transcends the sum of its parts and Kirkwood links this to her personal reflections upon genealogical lineage and personal histories, both of which are likewise much more than a collection of individuals.

As Kirkwood mentions in her own description of the works below, Turua Po (Rewarewa) is based on that of the kahu, or harrier hawk. The bird’s head and wingspan made from buttery rewarewa wood provides a place of stillness from which the rest of the work flows with a tangible energy. Its strong horizontal proportions balanced by the long brush of tail and plaited wingspurs. The beaked profile is an elegant foil for the rough textures of the harakeke bindings and weaving, this contrast simultaneously expresses the effortless glide and swift rush of wind of a bird in flight. These dual sensations are bound together in each individual glass element as well: the still, smooth surface and regular shape of each kiln-formed element reveals a glittering, etched iridescence. Light is woven into the cloak with each of these forms and is as much part of its fabric as the dark red binding and flax fibre. Turua Po (Rewarewa) speaks in an intimate whisper which is felt through the fingertips and glimpsed by the eyes; the scent of the oiled wood and dried harakeke is tasted at the back of the throat, and with the knowledge that the work may be worn, the sound of tinkling glass and rustle of flax can almost be heard.

The artist speaks in her own words about her works below, explaining their initial conception and the personal significance they have for her: Nga Tuaitara o Taikehu (series of black cloaks that were exhibited at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery) Te Rongo Kirkwood draws upon the history and forms of traditional Maori cloaks to connect people with stories of the landscape, and their relationship with the elements. In this body of work, Kirkwood explores the traditional warrior’s cloak form – the kahu toi. The protective garments have been reconceived as a sculpted art object, where glass, harakeke (flax) and light combine to collapse layers of time and space. Specifically, these cloaks reference access to layers or rows of lineage and the entwined ancestral interconnectedness of strings of memories and consciousness passed down through bloodlines or DNA. Within this dialogue Kirkwood also references the three generations alive today within her whakapapa: the artist’s parents generation, the artist’s generation and the artist’s son and his generation. Each piece represents an honouring of the memories of all those that have gone before in which the sum of their union or expression of love in turn resulted in the spark of life all the way down to those living today. An idea the artist examines, questioning whether humans are in fact the ultimate personification or expression of love itself.

Turua Po (series of cloaks on native timber) Kirkwood has a love of birds, particularly birds of prey, and the powerful sense of vision and freedom they evoke.

Building on earlier work around the traditional cloak form, Kirkwood explores further the hawk, or kahu, form and is especially interested in the traditional view of the birds as a medium connecting the Ira Atua with the Ira Tangata (the spiritual world with the tangible world). Drawing upon the idea of the bird as a go-between and referencing the feather cloaks that were often used to cover the body of the deceased, Turua Po explore ideas of life and death, transformation, and untrammelled freedom of vision.

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

1

Turua Po (Puriri) (2014)

22,500

2

Turua Po (Black Maire) (2014)

22,500

3

Turua Po (Rewarewa) (2014)

22,500

4

Nga Tuaitara o Taikehu (Black, Bone & Amber) (2014) 27,500

5

Nga Tuaitara o Taikehu (Black & Red) (2014)

27,500

6

Nga Tuaitara o Taikehu (Black & White) (2014)

27,500

All prices are NZD and include GST; Prices are current at the time of the exhibition

TE RONGO KIRKWOOD b. 1973, lives Auckland

Te Rongo Kirkwood: Nga Tuaitara o Taikehu (Black & White) (2014)

Auckland-based artist, Te Rongo Kirkwood (Waikato, Taranaki, Wai o hua, Te Kawerau, Ngai Tai ki Tamaki) works with fused glass, textile, and other media to create objects that blur the lines between sculpture, craft, and personal adornment. A selection of her cloaks, Ka Awatea, are currently on display in San Francisco’s de Young Fine Arts Museum. Kirkwood combines glass with more traditional fibres and each glass element features its own language of symbol and pattern.

Her cloaks act as transformative objects as they re-create ideas of Maori art and symbolism within a Western fine art discourse. Kirkwood draws upon her Maori and Scots heritage, and the natural world for creative inspiration; her use of natural materials and kiln-formed glass fuses multiple artistic traditions and techniques. As objects, the cloaks exhibit a complex structure of form and material, replete with textural and visual contrasts. As cloaks, the viewer can easily imagine the physical weight and heft of the item as it drapes over a body; this creates an intimate relationship between viewer and work.

Kirkwood has been working in glass for over 8 years and has been regularly exhibiting within New Zealand and abroad since 2009. She is a three-time finalist in the prestigious Ranamok Glass Awards, and her work sits in the private collection of the Awards’ founder.

Te Rongo Kirkwood 2015 CV P a g e |1

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

TE RONGO KIRKWOOD b. 1973, lives Auckland SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2015 2014 2012

Nga Kakahu Karaihe, Milford Galleries Dunedin Ka Awatea, de Young Museum, San Francisco, USA Ka Awatea, PATAKA Art + Museum, Porirua

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

Maori Art Market, Wellington NZ Society of Artists in Glass, TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, Pah Homestead, Auckland Te Hau a Uru: A Message from the West, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Auckland Ranamok, Canberra Glassworks, Canberra, Australia Ranamok, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Australia Paradise Lost? Contemporary Works from the Pacific, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada Call of Taranaki, Puke Ariki Museum, Palmerston North Star and Cloak, NZ Academy Of Fine Arts, Wellington CollaboratioNZ 2013, Whangarei Art that Reconnects, Whangarei Art Museum, Whangarei Aho Whenua, Threads Sown from Earth, PATAKA Art + Museum, Porirua Blown Away with Glass, Percy Thompson Gallery, Stratford Mini Masterworks 4, Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Legend!, Whangarei Art Museum, Whangarei Reboot, Milford Galleries Dunedin Maori Art Market, PATAKA Art + Museum, Porirua Summer Show, Milford Galleries Dunedin Traverse, Milford Galleries Dunedin Urbis Design Day, Essenze, Auckland Mini Masterworks, Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Air New Zealand Matariki Exhibition, Los Angeles, USA Urbis Design Day, Essenze, Auckland Te Tihi 5th Gathering of Indigenous Artists, Rotorua Mini Masterworks 3, Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Contemporary Maori Art, Pacific Gallery, PATAKA Art + Museum, Porirua Maori Art Market, Te Rauparaha Arena, Wellington; PATAKA Art + Museum, Porirua Toi Maori, Blacktown Arts Centre, NSW, Australia Toi Iho Matariki Exhibition, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington Puanga Kai Rau, National Collective of Maori Women Artists, Auckland Form and Dimension, Lane Gallery, Auckland Rotorua Festival of the Arts, Rotorua New Zealand Avant-Garde Art, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong Small Treasures, de Young Museum, San Francisco, USA Original Art Show, Manukau, Auckland I Te Marama, Nathan Homestead, Manurewa, Auckland Te Kahui o Matariki, Northart gallery, Auckland Ngapuhi, Kaikohe Material Concerns, Corbans Estate, Auckland Bombay Sapphire Blue Room NZ, Aveia, Auckland Iwi Art, Matariki Group Exhibition Small wearable artworks Objects D’Art, Estuary Arts Centre, Orewa, Auckland

AWARDS, COMMISSIONS & GRANTS 2015 2014

Public Sculpture Te Aho Maumahara - made for Te Pataka Korero o Te Hau Kapua, Devonport Library, Auckland Winner, MAP Scholarship, Claudia Borella Design, Wanganui

Te Rongo Kirkwood 2015 CV P a g e |2

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

Finalist, Ranamok Glass Awards, Australia Winner, Matariki Whakapuawai Creative Entrepreneur of the Year Award Recipient of Creative New Zealand Grant Finalist, Ranamok Glass Awards, Australia Winner, Art Venture Award, Arts Regional Trust, Auckland Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D Award Recipient of Creative New Zealand Grant Public Sculpture Pou Ihi - constructed in kauri, steel and glass for the Twin Streams Project, Waitakere, Auckland Finalist, Ranamok Glass Awards, Australia Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D Award Winner, Best in Glass, Royal Easter Show Glass Art Award 2nd Place, Cavalier Bremworth Luminous, NZ Art of Glass Awards Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D Award 2nd Place and People’s Choice, Royal Easter Show Glass Art Award Finalist, Best of NZ Glass Design, Bombay Sapphire Blue Room, Aveia, Auckland

2013 2012 2010 2009

2008

2007

COLLECTIONS Auckland Museum Andy Plummer, founder of Australian Ranamok Glass Prize Maori King Tuheitia King and Queen of Tonga Private Collections in New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, UK, USA, China

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2013 2012 2010

2009

Collette & Lisette Prendergast, Mariana, Lady Luck: Conversations with Creative New Zealand Women, Lark Press, Waikanae Beach Findlay, Katherine, A World of Light, Mana Magazine, Issue 108, pp 8-9 Awakening Light, Black Magazine, Issue 17, p 58 Image In New Glass Review 31, Corning Museum of Glass in New York New Zealand Society of Artists in Glass, New Zealand Glass Art, Auckland: David Bateman Documentary on Te Rongo Kirkwood Glasswork, Series 9 of Kete Aronui INSITE Magazine, Winter, Australia

Te Rongo Kirkwood: Hua (Seed) (2011)

Te Rongo Kirkwood 2015 CV P a g e |3

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz