He ata ki runga, he ata ki raro

Kei te whai a Ngataiharuru Taepa i te tikanga o ngā ringa toi o nāianei ki te hanga i te toi e urupare ana, e tautoro ana i te hoahoa o te kōwhaiwhai nō te toi o mua. Ko te *He ata ki runga, he ata ki raro*, 2020 a Taepa he toi rīanga-rima mumura, ko tāna toi nui rawa i tēnei wā. He toi porehu, he toi pārekareka, ka puta mai ngā ariā o tēnei mahi i te karakia e pā ana ki te wānanga – he kaupapa mō te whai mātauranga, te tipuranga, te akoranga. I ngā kōwhaiwhai e piko nei i te papa, mai i tētahi tauira ki tētahi, ko te tahatū o te rangi tērā ka kitea hei whakaahuatanga o te pūaotanga o tētahi rangi hou, o tētahi takiwātanga hou, o tētahi wā hou. Kei te kawea ēnei ariā e te auaha ataata; kei te hangaia ngā tikanga hou mā āna hoahoa e muia ai ki te kōwhaiwhai. Ko tā te whakaurunga o te tae e ora ai te wāhi, e kawe ai ngā huatau kei roto i te karakia, kei roto i te kōrero ataata o te kōwhaiwhai anō.

Ngataiharuru Taepa continues in a long tradition of contemporary Māori artists creating work that responds and extends upon the kōwhaiwhai (rafter painting) found within customary Māori art. With *He ata ki runga, he ata ki raro*, 2020 Taepa presents a commanding three-panel kōwhaiwhai piece, the artist’s largest scale work to date. As mystifying as it is mesmerising, this piece was inspired by the concepts found in karakia (Māori prayers and chants) that pertain to wānanga – ideas about knowledge acquisition, growth and learning. Taepa presents these ideas in visual form giving meaning to the concepts and interpreting them within his own kōwhaiwhai-rich design fields. As these kōwhaiwhai patterns meander across the picture plan, from one panel to the next, they form a horizon line that is envisaged as the start of a new dawn, a new era and time. Taepa incorporates subtle, rejuvenating shades of pink, blue and yellow colour that activate space and articualte ideas found in karakia and within the visual vocabulary of kōwhaiwhai.

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