Artist’s statement
Dale Cousens
Ngāruahine
Prior to lockdown I had been making a series of Meaning Cape as experiments in form using the ‘leftovers’ from other people’s work, the edges and spines of the Meaning Leaves that are usually discarded. During covid lockdowns I found it impossible to weave with natural materials.
Every time I picked up
Meaning
Flax plant, native to Aotearoa New Zealand
Scientific name: Phormium tenax
, I felt unsettled and knew that anything I wove would reflect that, and neither me nor the
Meaning
Flax plant, native to Aotearoa New Zealand
Scientific name: Phormium tenax
would be happy.
However, the need to keep creating during that time was still there, so I turned to a different material; synthetic cord from the hardware store. I find the cord supports traditional techniques but also supports different ways of making, allowing me to push pattern, design and structural elements, inviting me to go a little crazy.
These
Meaning
Cape
are an extension of my experiments and represent water, fire, wind, air, and
Meaning
The night, the darkness
. Elements that surround and sustain us and the darkness from which these things come.
Contact: daleaco@gmail.com
Dive into the details
"These pākē are an extension of my experiments and represent Water, Fire, Wind, Air and Te Pō (the place of potential). Elements that surround and sustain us and the darkness from which these things come"
Essays
Explore in-depth writing about He Aa I Uta, He Aa I Tai: Weaving the Elements.
Whenu(a), Atua: Returning to Hine-te-iwaiwa through the maternal language of whatu
Dr Hinekura Smith (Te Rarawa, Nga Puhi)
1974 words
The language of weaving resonates deeply with the feminine and maternal body – as long as we use that language.
Ngaa ahuatanga marire mo te koiora - The Elementals essential for life
Ruth Port (Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri)
2950 words
A journey of re-connection and knowledge recovery as a group of weavers unravel long lost techniques used by Māori ancestral sail makers.
