Shona Tawhiao: Pākākano

Artist and Māori fibre weaver Shona Tawhiao has created new semi-abstract sculptural forms based on seedpods, a powerful metaphor for renewal of life forces. Harvest promises new beginnings: each seed’s DNA carries a vital encoded message to develop and sustain new life. Across the world stories and histories are woven around the meaning of the seed and its capacity to shape our futures.

The artist says, “Like whakapapa, these perfectly designed sculptural vessels deliver precious cargo that takes the past to the future, in the present.” The seedpods are generously oversized, sources of growth and learning. These intricate constructions show her expert craftsmanship and sophisticated reinterpretations of whakairo created by Nanny Nunu, Shona’s great great grandmother Marara Maihi.

Pākākano celebrates the traditional skills of raranga while proposing a new and important way at looking at weaving as its own standalone entity, challenging, exciting and inspiring.

Text by Liz Cooper

Image credit: Shona Tawhiao, Hineora, 2022. Harakeke, comercial dye, wire. Image courtesy of the artist. By Ani Tawhiao-Lomas.