ITUPAPA ITULAGI : PART ROCK PART HEAVEN // TAUTAI NAVIGATE 30 YEAR CELEBRATION EXHIBITION // STUDIO 22 // 2016

The artworks employs a cross section of media to convey ritual in an abstracted stylised mode. This organic aesthetic aims to be mindful of a mental, physical and spiritual equilibrium. The work attempts to create forces and fields that by working together holding tensions and polarities in balance.  By drawing  on the natural environment, both materials and organic processes reflect the relationships between the elements and our ancestors. Here, key elements of fi re, earth and water inform materials refl ecting how these core elements inform our wellbeing and ensure survival. This enshrined artwork pays homage to connections of past and present and honours our connection with mother earth and our lineage. 

This was a celebratory exhibition of Aotearoa -based Pacific artists. For thirty years Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust has been navigating between the realm of Pacific art and the ‘white cube’. TAUTAI // NAVIGATE showcases a cross-section of some of the artists whose work has contributed to the navigation of Pacific Arts in Aotearoa. An entirely new generation has been borne and brought up knowing how to navigate with much more ease resulting in some incredible ground-breaking and leading young artists bringing about a new and powerful dynamic face to art in Aotearoa.