Tawhai Rickard

Tawhai’s installation Winner of the National Contemporary Art Award 2023, Waikato Museum

Space Invader circa 1769 - Te Karauna Tokokai Whenua, 2019, Acrylic on reclaimed native timber with metal & vanishes, 205 (H) x 150 (W) x 140cm (D)

Scenes from a Victorian Restaurant

Tawhai Rickard's installation 'Scenes from a Victorian Restaurant' was created using reclaimed and repainted wood, combining baroque elements with the figurative painting style of his ancestral house Hinetapora.

Judge Melanie Oliver selected it for the grand prize, provided by the Award's principal sponsor, Tompkins Wake.

"Tawhai’s work invites viewers to take a seat at the table, challenging us all to engage in a discussion on the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa," Oliver said at the awards.

Space Invader circa 1769

‘Space Invader Circa 1769 - Te Karauna Tokokai Whenua’ created in 2019 presents an imposing eighty foot extra-terrestrial creature (figuratively speaking) inspired by the science fiction classic ‘War of the Worlds’ by H.G Wells. The work is a visual and sculptural negotiation of Victorian Baroque design elements and Maori Art signifiers that denote the ambiguous historical and contemporary relationship between the two founding nations of New Zealand.

The painted narratives are in the style of the 18th Century Māori figurative painting that feature characters, imagery and dialogue deriving from biblical accounts, Pop Art and iconic satire with consideration toward the bi-cultural foundations of our country. The mentioned components and overall theme of invasion is indicative of the external impact upon Māori culture from Cooks first landing at Turanganui a Kiwa 1769 to the present day.

Tawhai Rickard’s replica Resolution entitled ‘Cook Discovers Aotearoa 1769’ exhibited as part of HERE: Kupe to Cook, PATAKA, 11 August - 24 November 2019

The HERE: Kupe to Cook exhibition was held at Pātaka Art Gallery and Museum in Porirua, Wellington from 11 August to 23 November 2019 marked 250 years since James Cook's arrival in Aotearoa with an exploration of the voyagers who were first to come here — Polynesian and European navigators. The exhibition, curated by Reuben Friend offered its own take on Tuia through a bilingual and multicultural exhibition of multimedia art, sculpture, photography, painting, waka building and film making. Every piece is discussed in te reo Māori, and also in English, to ensure those who can and wish to do so, can read from a Te Ao Māori (Māori world) perspective. This thoughtful approach is echoed through the art gallery where the works of art are those of Pacific and Māori artists as well as those of European and Asian descent.

Tawhai Rickard’s magnificent piece ‘Captain Cook’s Time Machine’ exhibited in Te Rangi Haupapa - A Woven History at Tauranga Art Gallery, 2020

In conjunction with the Tuia encounters 250 and commemorating the 155th anniversary of the Battle of Gate Pa, Te Rangi Haupapa – a woven history approaches concepts around colonisation and the aftermath of the land wars in the Bay of Plenty, specifically through a Te Āo Māori lens.

Two contrasting spaces aligned with the gender elements of Māoridom, offer insight into Aotearoa New Zealand’s tumultuous past and the intergenerational healing that continues to be explored by many of our contemporary artists today, in this exhibition, including Gallery artist & contemporary Maori artist Tawhai Rickard.

Australian National Maritime Museum’s Laura Signorelli caught up with contemporary Māori artist Tawhai Rickard, one of the 20 leading contemporary artists featured in the exhibition ‘HERE: Kupe to Cook’ who investigates the long and varied histories of South Pacific voyaging – dismantling misconceptions about the discover of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Pepeha

Kō Hikurangi te maunga

Kō Waiapu te awa

Kō Nukutaimemeha mē Horouta ōku waka

Kō Ngāti Uepohatu mē Ngāti Porou ōku iwi

A ‘Pepeha’ is a way of introducing yourself in Māori. Tawhai is sharing his own connections (above) with the people and places that are important to him. Nga mihi - thank you.

“My work is unashamedly Māori and bi-cultural looking to ancestral and bicultural kaupapa and aesthetics to provide a conceptual approach that is very uniquely Aotearoa, New Zealand. Moreover, my work is steeped in our country’s history that permeates into our contemporary culture and society.”

Portrait of Tawhai Rickard in front of his carved & painted entranceway ‘Te Kuri o Paoa (Young Nick’s Head)’ at Tauranga Art Gallery. IMG X Tania Rickard

Tawhai Rickard was born in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, Gisborne, New Zealand in 1968, of Ngati Porou decent, a Māori tribe located in Te Tairawhiti (region), East Coast. He completed art studies at Waiariki Institute of Technology, Massey University Te Putahi a Toi, Palmerston North and Waikato University.

“The aesthetic of my style is based on the early figurative folk art painting of my Whare Tupuna ‘Hinetapora’ known as the “Hinetapora Style”.

Tawhai’s work explores the historical and contemporary concepts of bi cultural New Zealand through the events of Captain James Cooks landing in Turanganui-a-Kiwa (Gisborne) almost 250 years ago. His medium is predominately paint and whakairo (carving) using reclaimed native timbers.

He currently lives with his whanau and works in Tauranga (Bay of Plenty) New Zealand.

Te Kooti Arikirangi - I Am A God Who Saves People', 43 (H) x 32cm (D)

Awards

Tawhai was announced the Premier Award winner at the 2022 Walker & Hall Waiheke Art Award’s at the Waiheke Community Art Gallery, for his work 'Te Kooti Arikirangi - I Am A God Who Saves People', created from recycled wood found object with folding panels, painted with acrylics and varnishes.

Other accolades include:

Supreme Winner at the 2018 Miles Art Award, Tauranga Art Gallery
Prize for Runner Up at the 2016 Miles Art Award, Tauranga Art Gallery
Supreme Winner at the 2015 Te Hā Art Award & Exhibition, Tairawhiti Museum & Art Gallery, Tairawhiti, Gisborne
Supreme Winner at the 2014 Battle of Gate Pā 150th Commemoration Art Award, Pukehinahina