Sunday 20 January 2013

Tryptic of art

Take a Word Monday has challenged us to use 'wrinkles' in our art.
I have chosen to do a digital piece today that shows the work of 3 different artists from three different schools and ages.

The first artistic element:

The background of the piece was painted by my daughter as part of her final year exams and is a Maori flax kit, green lipped mussels, a bone fishing hook and twine. It is is painted in acrylics on thick board and I have always loved this piece.  She had it framed for me as a gift and it's with me now in the UK.

The second artistic element:

Overlaying the background is one of New Zealands most famous artists: C. F. Goldie (1870 - 1947), who is renowned for painting photo-realistic images of the Maori dignitaries he met.  He was born and educated in Auckland.  The lady in this painting is Kapi Kapi who was an Arawa chieftainess who died in 1902 aged 102.  She is wearing a traditional Maori cloak and a tiki around her neck, probably made of green stone. (Jade)


When is a tattoo not a tattoo?  When it's a moko.

The third artistic element:

The moko (Maori tattoo) displayed on the lips and chin of Kapi Kapi.  The moko was not simply a tattoo, there was much tapu and ritual accorded to the process.  It was also not just ink pierced into the skin, the tool used was an uhi, which was more of a small chisel and the healed moko had a distinct texture.
The ritual was slightly different between women and men but for the women a song would be sung called a whakawai taanga ngutu.  This was to help them to remain stout-hearted and endure the pain of the uhi.


18 comments:

  1. Fascinating story, beautiful art. I find the Maori's culture to be so interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the class, dear Liz. Great idea and beautiful lady.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What an educational as well as beautiful art piece, Liz!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fabulous artwork. Beautifully created.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Liz, you never disappoint us. Here is a lovely piece of art and a description of how it was made AND a view into Maori culture and symbols. Perfection!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree with Marie above. Fantastic picture and wonderful story! xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a fascinating piece of work. Loved it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What fascinating info, Liz! I love the art and the way you presented it. The background piece shows how talented your daughter is...lovely texture. It would take more than a song to get me to have a moko!xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. Interesting history of a beautiful piece.

    ReplyDelete
  10. i always love to learn something new! great piece!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gorgeous and so interesting thanks for the great Post Liz!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fabulous artwork !
    Pozdrawiam :)
    Greglis

    ReplyDelete
  13. What beautiful face and art Liz!
    Your infos are so precious, thank you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. A very original and beautiful piece, Liz.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Image étonnante Liz !
    et merci pour les explications , c'est très interessant.
    Amicalement mary.kg

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment, I really appreciate it - Liz