"Waiora"

"Waiora" - Oil painting on canvas

Here is a collection of photos showing the development of one of my portraiture works, using Mathieu Laca as my artist model. On the outset I hoped to create a portrait that alluded to the ideas of water quality, or there lack of. And the unfortunate legacy we are sustaining to create for our children and future children.

I chose this image from the 80's of my dear sister Reremoana (figure at the front) and her Kohanga pals as the subject matter. This image is from one of my sisters kohanga reo (maori language focussed preschool) kapa haka (maori traditional dance and songs) performances. The kowhaiwhai symbol on the chest is that of the Kohanga Reo Movement.

Kōhanga reo establishment

The kōhanga reo movement was a response to the dire state of te reo Māori (the Māori language). In 1913 over 90% of Māori schoolchildren could speak the language; by 1975 this figure had fallen to less than 5%. The kōhanga reo movement was driven by Māori, with an emphasis on a total Māori-language immersion setting and involvement by whānau. The first kōhanga reo opened at Wainuiomata in 1982, and in the following year 100 new kōhanga were established.

Growth of kōhanga

Although there was little financial assistance from government until 1990, growth continued through the 1980s, peaking in 1993, when there were more kōhanga reo (819) than kindergartens or playcentres. With over 14,000 enrolments, kōhanga reo were responsible for close to half of all Māori enrolments in early childhood services at this time. By 2009 kōhanga reo numbers had dropped to 464. The decline has been attributed to increased compliance requirements and economic circumstances. However, having now produced 60,000 ‘graduates’, kōhanga have played, and continue to play, a crucial role in the revival of te reo Māori.

So why I choose my sister and friends as the example of children, is that in the past as maori we have gone to great lengths to reclaim our language and education for our children. So why not extend this great progressive force to be reckoned with to reclaiming the kaitiakitanga (guardianship) of our awa and moana (rivers and oceans). And not just 'consultation' forms of kaitiakitanga which seems to be the way civic institutions currently and ineffectively run.

I love working with oil paint, as it takes longer to dry than acrylic so it is changeable and workable for much longer. Its also easy to remove paint and start again, which is super helpful for me! Though it does mean it takes more time to create a piece, it took a few hours a day for 10 days (2 working weeks) to create this piece from start to finish.

This is the beginning of the background, which I chose to be layers of blue to represent our waterways. Using Mathieu Laca as the artist model and a palette knife I proceeded to apply layers of a wide variety of different colours in certain areas of the painting, focussing on parts of the children bodies. As an attempt to represent the notion of if we are water and the water is us, so to are we to be effected by the dirtiness of the water.