Winter Night (1982)

Born in the village of Liku in Niue in 1962, Pule is considered one of Aotearoa’s most significant artists and has been at the forefront of contemporary New Zealand art since he began his painting practice in the mid-1980s. Pule’s work from the 2000’s onwards is characterised by so called ‘cloud’ paintings which signified a tonal shift from the elegiac mood of his hiapo-inspired paintings. Works such as Winter Night (1982) remind us of Pule’s notable work as a novelist and poet, where his use of language would summon forth subtle and provocative

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imagery, colours and textures that would coalesce in his drawings and paintings. Here, an intimate poem is framed by a red drip that becomes a tendril, encircled by by climbing vines that signify ti mata alea, the cordyline free from which Niuean people and culture are said to have bloomed. Surrounding imagery is concerned with the blight of religion as seen in the scene on the left side of the work that depicts three grief-stricken figures and a vista of crucifix forms placed on top of landscapes. Smudges and smears in this work, as art historian Peter Brunt notes, ‘are the very “atmosphere” in which images proliferate and figures act out enigmatic stories.’ (Hauaga, 2010)

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