Milk and Honey

He ringa toi pāhomatarau a Lonnie Hutchinson e whakaputa ngāwari ai ngā take wheako wahine, atu i te tirohanga o te iwi taketake, o te mana wahine, inarā ko te aupēhitanga o te hōkakatanga a te wahine me te wahine moe wahine i te ahurea o ngā moutere o te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa. Kei te ara mai te reo ataata e whakaatu ana i te kiritoa a ‘Black Pearl’ i te rīanga o waenganui – ko ōna makawe ānō nei he pakiaka rākau e kongange ana – i te kāhui takitoru pepa kāmura pango a Hutchinson. Putaputa mai ai a Black Pearl i ngā toi a Hutchinson; i takea mai ia i ngā kōrero takakino o te hītori o ngā moutere o te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa hei tohu mō te mana o te wahine iwi taketake – he mariko e whakapōrearea nei, e wero nei i ngā waiaro o te hunga mātaki kokoro.

Lonnie Hutchinson is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice subtly addresses issues of female experience from Indigenous and feminist perspectives, in particular, the repression of female and lesbian sexuality in Pacific Island culture. A visual language featuring the protagonist Black Pearl – seen in the central panel with tree-like roots and her hair a blaze – emerges from Hutchinson’s triptych of black builder’s paper. Black Pearl, a recurring figure in Hutchinson’s practice, comes from narratives of Pacific herstory and is a symbol of Indigenous female empowerment. Her phantom presence haunts and taunts the subconscious of the dominant patriarchy.

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