Wāhine

I won't say much about this piece. I am happy to explain how I painted it, but the rest, it is not my place to know or say. 

 This piece is for a friend of mine who, some time ago, went on a beautiful journey in receiving her moko kauae. I wasn't at all surprised then, that the intuitive image I received for her, featured her ta moko. I was surprised though by the simplicity of this piece. At first, the image I got was plain black with a white rectangle, in the base of which sat her moko kauae. That was it. Very minimalist but striking I thought. 

 So I went to paint this, but instead of painting the black, I started with several layers of red, leaving the white rectangle untouched. Then several layers of black on top of the red. I then just went free style and started to layer the black and wet it, then started to scratch back down to the red in lines representing the feathers of a korowai - a traditional cloak. Then I painted some faint white and blue lines, forming a shape representing the passage of the whare tangata - womb. 

 The moko kauae was also drawn by scrapping the white layers away, to the black layer I had put beneath. 

 It was an honour to do this piece and a chance to experiment with some different painting techniques. 

 God bless my dear friend on her journey and all that she has to give. 



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