Artist’s statement
Jude Te Punga Nelson
Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Ruahine
This work portrays the closely entwined relationship between the people, the elements and our marae or place of belonging. It is a half sized Meaning Intricately woven cloak with vertical Meaning Weft twined geometrical design and the finger twining technique panels.
These appear as five Meaning Posts standing strong on the cloak that allude to the familiar shape of our wharenui. From left to right: water, fire, spirit, air and earth. As our marae stands strong, we stand strong.
Our Meaning Ancestral house is a place where we find shelter, belonging, teaching, correction, nurture, harmony, and our past and present and future.
An aside: We, the Te Punga
Meaning
Family
found our marae in January this year, Te Potaka just south of Parihaka. My cousin said it best, “I have always felt like something was missing in my life, and now I’m home.”
Contact: janelson888@gmail.com
Dive into the details
"This is my first work created entirely with traditional and natural dyes. I wanted it to look "old" with that glorious gold colour muka takes on as it ages. I had to figure out some new techniques when transitioning from Meaning Hand twisted single weave-weft to Meaning Weft twined geometrical design and the finger twining technique row on the diagonal and keep the tension correct."
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.
