Artwork Information

He tohu mō te whakapapa me te matahua, ko te hei tiki te aronga tahi o te tūhuratanga me te puakitanga o ngā toi whakarākei a te Maori. Ahakoa whakamahia ai e ia ngā rawa horihori, rawa hiato pērā i te Corian ki te hanga i ngā puakitanga tino kohura, tino hou o te auaha, i *Hei Tiki*, 2015, whakamahia kētia ai ngā rawa o mua e hāngai pū ai ki te kōrero mō te whakapapa o te auaha hei tiki me ōna pānga tohu ki te whakapapa.

A symbol of whakapapa (genealogy) and fertility, the hei tiki (ornamental pendant) is a central focus in Rangi Kipa’s exploration and rearticulation of Māori adornment practices. While in some pieces he uses synthetic, composite materials like Corian to create highly saturated, overtly contemporary interpretations of the form, in *Hei Tiki*, 2015 he employs and celebrates the customary materials that engage in a direct korero with the whakapapa of the hei tiki form and its symbolic connotations of ancestry and lineage.