Te ata tuatua

He ringa peita, he ākonga mō ngā toi kōwhaiwhai a John Hovell, ā, ka rongonuitia mō ngā mahi kaitā i oti i a ia i roto i ngā wharenui me ngā wharekai huri noa i Te Ika-a-Māui. Ko ngā āhuatanga motuhake o ana toi, ko te whakamahi i te kano, i te matauri āhua tūrehurehu, i ngā toi whārahi i haere ki tua o te whānuitanga o te tino nuinga o ngā heke me ngā kōwhaiwhai.

Ko tā tēnei raupapatanga toi he whakaemi i ngā hua o Tangaroa. Ko te mōhiotanga o Hovell mō te kōwhaiwhai he mea ako i raro i te maru o te tohunga whakairo a Pine Taiapa me ngā tirohanga taiao o Te Tairāwhiti. Nāna anō i whakawhanake tōna kaupapa, tāna ahunga, me tāna tāera, mai i te tirohanga o te pononga o te taiao, i te māramatanga ki tōna taiao takutai – ōna tohu, ōna tauira, ōna huringa.

John Hovell was painter and a scholar of kōwhaiwhai (painted rafters), well known for his large-scale commissions in meeting houses and dining halls across the North Island. His work is distinguished by his use of modelled colour, semi-abstract silhouettes and expansive compositions that often move beyond the narrow width of the heke (rafters) that kōwhaiwhai traditionally occupy.

This series of works brings together the bounty of Tangaroa – the god of the sea. Master carver Pine Taiapa and the coastal landscapes of the East Cape had a profound influence on Hovell’s understanding of kōwhaiwhai. He developed his own philosophy, approach and style drawn from a naturalist vision and understanding of his coastal environment – its signs, patterns and cycles.

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