Artwork Information

He tipua a Kurangaituku, nāna a Hatupatu i mauhere i roto i tōna ana. Ka pūrere atu a Hatupatu i te ana, arā, i te here a Kurangaituku, nāna hoki te tipua rā i ārahi ki ngā ngāwhā o te Whakarewarewa, e pātata ana ki te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe. Kei te huri kē a Lisa Reihana mai i te whakaatu i a Kurangaituku hei poupou, arā, hei taonga tuku iho, ki te hoahoa kē e whakaatu ana i a ia hei tipua e puta mai ana i te whēuriuri, ko ōna matihao e whātoro ana, ānō nei he taniwha kiriata pohewa, nō te kēmu ataata rānei.

Kurangaituku is a mythical bird-woman who captured the human Hatupatu, imprisoning him in her cave. Hatupatu escaped from the cave – and Kurangaituku’s clutches – and led the bird-woman into the hot springs at Whakarewarewa, near Lake Rotorua. Rather than depict Kurangaituku in the traditional form of poupou (carved panels in marae/communal spaces), Lisa Reihana reimagines her emerging from the darkness with her long talons outstretched, like a figure from a fantasy film or a video game.