5 IMAGES
Silhouette by Kara Walker.
This image portrays two African women holding a voodoo doll, and small European looking man. I feel like this is to show that the African women holds the power. It is showing how she is in control of the small man. I think that the voodoo doll represents how she can inflict pain on the man whenever she wants and that there is nothing he can do about it. Kara Walker helps you recognize the race of these characters in her silhouette by over exaggerating the features of the women. She over exaggerates the lips of the women, her grass skirt and grass bands around her ankles. This makes me aware of the fact that she is of African descent. She places a coat and a top hat on the men which automatically makes me think they are European. I think that Kara Walker did an excellent and conveying her idea. This art piece would feel hard and flat. the bold black colour adds a specialty to the piece. This reminds me of all the slavery movies I have seen, I would hate to experience what these innocent peopel had to go through.
Photography by Jimmy Nelson.
These photographs try to show the indigenous people of New Zealand, Maori. He has captured a man and a women dressed in what could have been the Maori people attire. as capturing as these photographs are, the outfits look a little overdone. These costumes look more like they belong on the Kapa Haka stage, not like everyday clothing. These costumes look very modernized and take away the specialty of what our Maori people originally lived in everyday. Jimmy Nelson's photographs are definitely stunning, however they do not convey what he was trying to get across with photographing indigenous people. These outfits do not look like the most comfortable outfits to wear. Did our Maori people really dress like this day in day out? Or has our culture been modernized too much to remember what it was like?
Painting by Robyn Kahukiwa.
When i see Robyn Kahukiwa's painting I see the Maori Tinorangatiratanga flag with a Maori person who is painted white. This suggests that Maori people had a white way of life forced upon them. It looks as if the individual has become part of a European community however hides who they really are beneath. Robyn's paintings do not realistic however if they were to, it could lose the idea behind it. The red colour in the flag is very bold. It looks like Robyn used a dry brush painting technique on the figures face. This would feel quite rough. This painting makes me think of what it would be like to have a completely new culture come in and take over my home
Goldie painting.
These paintings are extremely visually appealing.His talent and skill flabbergasts me! His paintings capture every detail of the figures face as it almost looks like a photograph. I don't have a bad critical word to say about Goldie's paintings. His art is so raw and exposing. It shows people who are thought to be quite high and respected in the Maori world. The wrinkles on the women's face are so detailed, you can almost feel every crease. The moko on her face shows the deep lines where the blade would have broken the skin. This shows that these women are quite old and that these paintings are based from many years ago, as that technique of tattooing was the only way to tattoo in that era. This photographs make me think of my ancestors and what they would of looked like. Do they have a moko? It also m akes me think about my grand and great grand parents.
ANNOTATIONS
Robyn Kahukiwa
b.1940
self taught
skinner, D.(2009) Robyn Kahukiwa. In F. Campbell (Ed), The Big Book of Essay: New Zealand Contemporary Art from The Real Art Roadshow: Black Collection (p.33) Wanaka. Real Art Charitable Trust.
This text is an Artist's reviewon Robyn Kahukiwa's work, written by Damian Skinner. In particular, an art piece titled 'Haehae mo nga pepi Kahui' (Lines or marks for the Kahui babies) is discussed and what significant meanings are behind this work. This art piece is about the sad story the thye Kahui baby twins, Chris and Cru, who died from injuries caused by child abuse in 2006. The text raises the issue of child abuse in New Zealand, and how hard it is to be a Maori women looking after her children and land, "Or the work could refer to the struggle that Maori women face as mothers, trying hard to protect their children (and land and culture) from harm...". These ideas slightly relate to my own and my practice of art as I feel so strongly against child abuse, and can also relate to the struggles of being Maori. In my own artwork, I like to use my Maori culture as inspiration in my own practice.
Daniel Michael satele- 2 January, 2014 ( I personally think this writer enjoys using such long difficult words to show off how intelligent they are)
satele, D.M.(2014, January 2). Laird and Singh's Desecration of"Wihaan".Retrieved from http://eyecontactsite.com/2014/01/tessa-laird-and-tffany-singhs-desecration-of-wiha
This is an essay discussing whether the sculpture "wihaan" created by Tessa Laird and Tiffany Singh was appropriate. "Laird and Singh's failure to critically engage Wihaan's escape from their intention's suggests, surprisingly, that the artists do no take the shrine seriously on the spiritualistic or traditional grounds they claim as their work's premise..."
Daniel Michael raises the issue about whether the artists made the piece without having a care or being cautious about the religion and spirituality. I personally believe that before interfering with another culture besides your own, you should collect and inherit great knowledge and respect for not only the culture but the people. It is a very dangerous thing interfering with a spiritual symbol and/or object and can create great debates on whether ones intentions are in the right place. Daniel Michael strongly believes that Laird and Singh did not have enough knowledge about the culture and customs of Eastern Asia to create such a piece, and that placing the work in the center of what was already culturally busy was done wrongly.
Ian Berry, Curator
Kara Walker (2001).In Berry,I, English,D,et al (Eds), Kara Walker (pp.7,11,36,47,75,1050. Cambridge, MA& London: MIT Press. (Plus images of Kara Walker's work from PP.4549,184.)
Printed throughout this text is a small collection of short writings by Kara Walker. These consist of notes, ideas, thoughts and messages. Most if not all of the small texts by Kara Walker show her pain and anger against white people, and her problem with racism. "I make art for white men to suck their cigars at
no.
no shame in that.
I make art for white women to shiver their fans at
no.
no shame.
I make art for black men to worry their wives about.
no.
no shame in that
I make art for the Black women to wag their fingers at
no.
no shame
I make art for white boys to feel up their sisters at.
no.
no shame.
I make art for whit girls to finger their prissies
no.
no shame in that.
I make art for artists to fire their furnace
I make art for kara, so that she won't burn us"
Reading this text, written by Kara Walker, raises the idea that she is angered and outraged by the racial conflict between the blacks and whites. The history of her people and the sad events that occurred during the slavery days motivates and inspires her art practice. Ian Berry gives us all an opportunity to get an insight of mind of Kara Walker.
500 WORD ESSAY-SEMINAR!
What is a piupiu?
A piupiu is a flax skirt crafted and worn by the
indigenous people of New Zealand, Maori.
Piupiu was once and everyday thing, however after the
countless years of having a European lifestyle forced over New Zealand, the
treasured piupiu became an item only seen on the stage for Kapa Haka
performances, or tourist attractions.
In our days, there are only a certain few trusted
piupiu makers left in New Zealand. Piupiu is a very expensive, difficult item
to make and buy. There is an endless demand for piupiu due to the forever
rising number of Kapa Haka groups being formed and schools, so many piupiu
makers work day in and day out to complete the bulk orders in time.
The process of making a single piupiu can take
anywhere from three to four months, depending on the maker, either shorter or
even longer. Leilani Rickard is on of the most famous piupiu makers based in
Rotorua. She tries to keep her piupiu making process as traditional as
possible, to keep the connection between herself and her ancestors strong, and
that her mokopuna don’t loose their culture. For each piupiu, Leilani and her
brother Chris collect about 200+ pieces of harakeke (flax), and using the
group’s pattern out line, cuts the desired pattern. Using only a mussel shell,
they scrape at the pattern to remove all the moka. Leilani boils these in
bundles of 10 for 2-3 minutes, to extract the green colour. To proceed with the
making of the piupiu, they need to allow the bundles to completely dry, this
usually takes 3-4 weeks. Sticking to the traditional piupiu process, Leilani
and Chris make their first dye by collecting manuka tea-tree twigs, leaves and
berries, then boil for 6 hours. This will extract tea coloured water. Whilst
the manuka is boiling away, they travel to slow flowing streams and ponds to
collect their second dye, Paru, or better known as swamp mud. Swamp mud is not
easily spotted, as it does not sit on the surface. You need to dig and search
under banks and the stream floor to find the thick black silky mud.
When the bundles of flax are completely dry, they
submerge the piupiu into the manuka dye and allow it to soak long enough for
the dye to stain the scraped harakeke. The piupiu are then submerged into the
paru, when cleaned, what was the scraped harakeke will show a dark brown to
black colour. Some people don’t have the resources to use natural dye so many
use commercial dye. This is where the hard long hours of labour of weaving and
tying the piupiu begins. Piupiu can last forever if looked after correctly.
Some cost hundreds of dollars and some can cost $1000.
Many groups no longer use piupiu as the Kapa Haka
uniform is forever being modernised. When performing, people tend to put a lot
of movement in their hips to make the piupiu dance with beauty. When stored
away, the piupiu lays in a stocking, so when it is able to come out of it’s
stocking, you need to allow it to move as much as possible. Your piupiu needs
to come to life, or the the beauty of it will not be presented. Some say a
piupiu is an extension of your body so your piupiu ad yourself move in
partnership.
BLOGGING STATEMENT OF INTENT.
I would like to create a blog about my tastes in art, and what I would like to create as a person studying art.
One of my passions is Kapa Haka. It is one of the things in my life that I am hoping to pursue, so I would like to post up many photos, videos and quote's etc. on my blog.
200-300 WORD PARAGRAPH ON WHO INFLUENCES ME.
As a child, my brother and I had a very rough childhood. I have always been very protective over my brother and like wise for him. My brother and I have seen, heard and experienced things that i wouldn't want any child to experience. If it wasn't for the fact that i had my brother by my side most my life, i don't know how i would have been able to turn to be the person I am today. Although we did go through some pretty shitty things, if these events did not happen then we wouldn't be who we are today and we would most definitely not have the brotherly sisterly bond that we have today. Growing up, we both experienced the same issue of being white skinned Maori's. We were continuously judged and reminded that we are not true Maori's and that we are too white. However, people would be so amazed when they heard us sing, perform kapa haka or talk a bit of Te Reo Maori. My father use to always tell us, "what is the first two letters in Maori? MA! and ma means what? WHITE!, so rub that in their face!" Mine and my brothers art work is really culturally affiliated. My brother is really talented at drawing and creating Ta Moko designs. He inspires me to always try my best to improve all my drawing skills.
HAIR- corse, rough, horse hair, straw.
FACE- deep bone structure, sunken, cold, hard, smooth, spiky, wooden, ugly, unique, skinny.
EYEBROWS- thick, big, black.
MOUTH- curvy, weird, unusual.
(made me think of the movie Apocolypto, an era before colonisation).
THEMES- storytelling, voodoo, immortality, happy/sad, belongs in the jungle.
He's keen missing from society, desolated for years. He has grown thick black hair, so corse, so rough, almost mane like to the touch. Over the years his appearance has drastically changed due to his surroundings. His lip's have protruded spikes collected fro his choice of cuisine, snapper, kina. His teeth have become jagged , likened to a sharks. His brows are strong and thick, like time. Due to harsh sun damage and hours on end spent in salt water, his skin has hardened, showing a wooden effect. His skin was once pink, now has changed to a cold blue. His lip's and nose once pink, now red. All thanks to the wilderness.
1. green, repetitive, pattern,black, interesting, smells like fresh cut grass, old school wall paper, I see birds, fish, clouds of smoke, buildings, brussel sprouts, water colours, smells like paper.
2. wooden furniture, concrete, cold, hard, museum, cluttered, empty, basic, looks like an art studio, looks like it has been staged for an art photo shoot, smells like a factory:- saw dust, paint, musky.
3. beautiful island, summer mornings, friendly, grandmother, smells like fresh air, coconut oil, clean crisp breeze, woven palm tree leaves, sunny, smells like the sea, salty, rustic, sandy, smells like fresh food being sold at a market, you can hear the waves crashing against the shore.
4. toys, unusual, weird, photography, plain, fantasy, role playing, small model, characters, props, used for film, smells like paint, chemical musty smell, creativeness, thinking outside the box.
(I CHOSE TO WRITE ABOUT THIS IMAGE)
The air has a floating scent of coconut oil, being overpowered by the smell of fresh woven palm tree leaves. There is a slight salty rustic taste in the air from the sea breeze. The day is slowly being heated by the forever rising morning sun. Smiles are created by the feeling of the clean crisp hair enriching your lungs with every breath you intake. In the background you can hear the joyful laughs, the powerful cheerful singing, booming together in harmony, you can hear the banging of the drums, tapping away, the drum sticks creating a second heart beat on what once was a old tree trunk. if you listen carefully enough, you will hear the waves creeping up the shore line, completing the sense of paradise. The air is slowly being filled with the welcoming, delicious food vein prepared at the market down the road. The delicious food is lingering past people's nostrils. Chop suet, taro, green banana's, all have your stomach roaring out of hunger. The march down to the market begins. Welcome to Samoa.
POLITICAL ART!
Political street art tends to have a meaning or a purpose. personally, I try to make my art have a meaning or a purpose. I am a white skinned Maori and being one is hard in today's society. I am continuously being judged on the colour of my skin, so instead of arguing with people about it, I put it in my art. Most if not all of my paintings and drawings are highly affiliated with Maori culture. When people see my art, they seem to be surprised when they find out it was made by me. My art work in the past has been about cultural differences and who I am as a person. My level 3 external board was based on a lot of portraits of my partner, and had a lot of skulls and Ta Moko. I like to use a lot of Ta Moko in my paintings, especially if i have a portrait of myself. The skulls had moko on them to show that people automatically assume that the skull is of Maori descent. I face the racial difficulty of being a white Maori everyday, as people are quick to jump to conclusion. I guess art is a way I can get my point across without saying a thing, because sometimes words fall on deaf ears.
