Hinemoa & Hinemoa

Ko tā te tārai matapaia a Pareau Corneal he whakanui i te mana o te wahine. Kei te whakaata tētahi āhua hihiri o Hinemoa i tētahi, ānō nei he mahi-ā-tinana takirua. Kitea auautia ai i roto i ngā toi tārai a Corneal te kanikani me te korikori hei kaupapa nui. Nā te miramira i te mana wahine, kei te whakatūturu te ringa toi i tōna . . . tūranga hei wahine i tēnei ao . . . [nāna] i āta tahuri atu i te tirohanga karihika ki te tinana o te wahine. He tohu kē ngā āhua – i ētahi wā he ū paraha, ko tētahi ū kei runga, ko tētahi kei raro, he pānga riterite me he tāpirihanga tahupera. I tēnei toi he nui ake te kaupapa o te āhua i te kaupapa o te ira wahine.

Anei tā John Walsh mō tāna toi:

Nā tāna whakatuturu i te mana, i te atamai, i te puakitanga o te kitenga nui, a te wahine Māori i roto i āna mahi huhua i te ahurea o mua, o nāianei hoki, kei te whakamahi a Corneal i te uku ki te whakahoki ki a ia tōna mana hei rangatira, hei whaea, hei toa, hei mātanga mātauranga.

Pareau Corneal’s ceramic sculpture celebrates mana wahine (female authority). The dynamic physical forms of the two Hinemoa figures mirror each other as if to reveal the stilled gestures of a paired dance. Corneal’s sculpture frequently references the significance of dance and movement. In foregrounding mana wahine the artist affirms her . . . place as a woman within the world . . . [who] consciously moved away from the sexual gaze on the female form. The figures are symbolic, often flat-chested with one breast lower than the other, with exaggerated proportions and extensions. The work becomes about the form over the feminine.

Of her work, painter John Walsh noted:

In affirming the authority, intelligence, and vision expressed by Māori women in their diverse roles in customary and contemporary culture, Corneal reclaims through clay their status as leaders, mothers, warriors and knowledge experts.

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