Picture Painting

Ko *Picture Painting*, 1994 he kōmitihanga o ngā mātātuhi Māori me te Pākehā. Ko te ipu he āhua nō Rongopai, te wharenui o te tau 1887 e mau ai ngā peita whakahirahira, he peita tangata, he peita taiao nā ngā kaitautāwhi o Te Kooti. Ko te tipu he āhua nō tētahi toi peita nā Gordon Walters, he mea e hāngai ana ki te mahi a Paul Klee.

Kitea nuitia ai te āhua o te ipu me te tipu i ngā wharenui o te Tairāwhiti, ā, ka putaputa mai i ngā wā o te raupatu whenua. E ai ki a Shane Cotton:

Āe mārika he kaupapa tōrangapū kei roto i tēnei puakitanga mō te mana whenua me te hira o te tikanga ahi kā o tēnā hapū, o tēnā rohe . . . Ko ngā kaupapa o ngā mātātuhi, he mōtītī, he tuakiri, he hītori e whīwhiwhi ana ki te korero tuku iho me te pūrākau.

Kua panoni haere te tikanga o te tipu ā-ipu i roto i te mahi a te ringa toi i roto i ngā tau, ā, i tēnei rā, he tohu mō ngā ariā, ngā āhuatanga, ngā marohi, hou.

*Picture Painting*, 1994 is a fusion of Māori and Pākehā (European New Zealander) imagery. The pot derives from Rongopai, the 1887 wharenui (meeting house) that contains important figurative and naturalistic paintings by followers of the Māori prophet Te Kooti. The plant is from a painting by Gordon Walters, which was influenced by Paul Klee.

The pot and plant image feature frequently in meeting houses on the East Coast and began to appear during times of land confiscation. Commenting on this Shane Cotton said:

There is no doubt about its political significance as a statement of land ownership, and the reaffirmation of a hapū’s connection to their area . . . The images deal with aspects of acculturation, appropriation, identity and history intertwined with narrative and myth.

The pot plant has taken on new meaning in the aritst’s practice over time and today it is also regarded as a symbol of new ideas, realities and propositions.

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