Koru

1990
oil and acrylic on canvas, 100 x 40 cm (framed)
Private Collection


Reflecting on my experience and the influence of Maori art and culture on who I am. I remember painting this outside in the garden of the Foundation Course. As I child my parents took us to Otakou marae in Dunedin and me and my sister used to love playing, dancing and running free with the other children there. Black, red and white are traditional colours used in Maori decorations and the "koru" form is like the unfurling of a new fern leaf - a new creation, a growing…

It was while painting this that I learnt you can't paint in acrylic on top of oil. I did and it later peeled off.