Q&A with Kina Gallery
- You are a multi media artist, creating works with beautifully intricate Māori designs. What first led you to your different creative mediums?
As far as mediums go, painting is my first love, but I have always been a maker, I began making pottery because it was a way to support myself and children and be at home with them at the same time. The prints developed from the images I was creating on the pottery. The prints are made first as images in the clay which I photograph and complete using photoshop, compiling the images into a print. This process allows me to create larger and more complex images than I would be able to create with ceramics alone.
- Your focal point alongside the Māori motifs, is to celebrate Te Reo Māori and Whakataukī ( Māori proverbs) which adorn your works. It is a beautiful and unique way of honouring the taonga that is Te Reo Māori. How did you first come about weaving this into your works?
Since young have been drawn to Maori art form, especially carving and moko. My first marriage was to a man from a beautiful whanau ( ngati wai ) and being a part of that whanau had a big effect on me and my awareness of te ao maori. My child from that marriage I went onto raise away from that whanau and in my own home town with an awareness of what he was missing out on and the 'casual racism' in the environment he was now in. I wanted to make a stand against that by bringing what elements of te ao maori I could and as an artist that was through art. I think art is a subtle but powerful way to bring awareness and a positive feeling towards unity.
I love the visual look of words but have no original words of my own, a friend was teaching me some words in te reo and kihi kihi ( kiss kiss ) seemed perfect for fantails to be saying, and so it began.
- Does the imagery on your works link to the whakataukī chosen?
Sometimes in the bird I might choose, but the imagery now follows similar themes and my attention is in the piece as a whole. first i have to create the canvas for the work which is in the handbuilding of the ceramic vessel or bowl. This is done by hand through coiling and pinching the clay. Each form has to be a complete work in itself before I even begin the etching. Then my intention is to decorate it so that even though it is a static object, it has movement and that the birds"fly". This is why I dont use moulds or stamps or decals. Everything is hand painted because it needs to fit the shape of the form and fly around it. Composition, contrast and design all continue to be a challenge.
- You use the sgraffito technique, which is a method of creating images by scratching through a layer of paint or glaze to reveal the layer underneath. How long does this process take to complete?
A long time ! The whole process is a long one. I hand build all the forms, I don't use moulds, I want each piece to develop organically so that no two pieces are the same. This means that for each piece I make the image has to be drawn on to fit the shape of the form. No stamps, no decals, hand painted everything. The etching is a slow process. It's physically demanding so I took a break from making ceramics for a year, and will only be making these pieces until the end of this year.
I want to make pieces that are treasured for a lifetime, so I take my time over them. I put a lot of my heart into them.
If you would like to learn more about me or my work, please visit my website or follow me on social media.
Website: https://ambersmith.nz/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ambersmith.nz/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ambersmith.nz/