Ko wai au

Ko wai au

Having being raised by my kuia, Parekotuku Wiremu, many of my days were spent at Marae. As a child I remember searching the walls of the whare, the photos and peering out of the wharenui door to bide my time.  I would become purposely distracted as at that stage my confinement was defined by having an active kuia. So my eyes hunted things, the way the tukutuku panels had been made, the movement of the nannies fingers whilst they mirimiri the feathers for kakahu, the dyeing of piupiu while scrapping the harakeke, bickering of the nannies while the men spoke, the curves in the carvings, the etches in the faces of the potraits on the back wall.... anything, everything. I see those same things now and as an adult in the present they no longer represent the confinement of a childhood but instead provide the balance of my being. The first piece speaks of this and the feelings evoked while the individual images are the random images that my eyes now seek when sitting inside of a wharenui.   And in that single act there is a level of familiarity that settles me no matter which marae I sit at.