Ngati Pakeha Tiki are a celebration of being Pakeha in this country. These artworks say that the tiki is ubiquitous in all that we do, no matter where we are.
Ngati Pakeha Tiki have been created as Kiwiana, each numbered and kept on file by the artist. They say that everything in the World now has a little of New Zealand in it and acknowledge that Tiki have a little of every part of the World in them.
While a play on the plastic tikis of the tourist trade, these paintings invite us all to hold a special place in our home for our nations developing cultural identity.
In ancient times the tiki were fertility symbols and still today, these works represent the fertility of the ethnic mix here in New Zealand. While often having humorous overtones they each carry the more serious message that we are all one. |
