Korikori

Mere Harrison Lodge was one of the first Māori women to attend the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland, where she explored abstract sculpture in the enduring medium of bronze. The sense of fluid energy and movement in 'Korikori', 1964 belies the sculpture’s solid material. Lodge was interested in the angularity of the figure’s hips and the figure’s dynamic shape recalls the contrapposto pose which has captured sculptors’ imaginations across millennia. 'Korikori' is one of a small number of bronze sculptures by Lodge. After graduating with a Diploma of Fine Arts in 1964 she went on to pursue a career in education, teaching in Aotearoa New Zealand and in Fiji. Like her older sister Dame Kāterina Mataira, Lodge has been a tireless advocate for te reo Māori and was closely involved in language revitalisation, including through her work at Auckland College of Education. In the late 1980s, Lodge worked with a team to develop a curriculum in te reo Māori, teaching in some of Aotearoa’s first total immersion schools.

– Julia Waite, Curator, New Zealand Art | Kairauhī, Toi nō Aotearoa, 2024

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