TUKU: Artist Kōrero — The Beginning

Join the artists for an introductory kōrero as part of TUKU: Open Studio, where they share the kaupapa of the project.

Through conversation and shared reflection, the artists will discuss their ideas, creative approaches, and intentions, as well as the themes and contexts shaping the project. 

This kōrero invites audiences into the thinking and processes behind the work that will be created during TUKU.

Artist bios

WharehokaSmith (Te Āti Awa, Taranaki, Ngāruahine, Pākehā) is a senior Taranaki artist whose large-scale works draw on customary forms and imagery to express perspectives grounded in te ao Māori.

Jodie Tipa (Kāi Tahu ki Moeraki) brings new focus to enduring patterns laiden with ancestral significance in her large installation artworks. She explores whakapapa (genealogy) and identity through abstract designs which have been treasured for generations, expressed in woven forms such as raranga and tukutuku panels.

Dwayne Duthie’s (Taranaki, Te Āti Awa, Pākehā) figures gaze directly at the viewer, provoking existential reflection on what it means to be human – alone, and as a collective. The human condition, innocence, identity, power and control are some of the major themes in Dwayne’s work as an interdisciplinary artist, working in painting, sculpture and video.