PEPEHA - WHAKAPAPA
Tuhia ki te rangi, Tuhia ki te whenua, Tuhia ki te ngākau o ngā tangata katoa. He maungarongo ki te whenua, he whakaaro pai ki ngā tangata katoa. Kō te whakapapa ki te taha tōku māmā
Kō Ngāti Kahungunu mē Tūhoe ōku iwi
Kō Rakaiapaaka mē Ngāti Koura ōkū hapū
Kō Manutai mē Papakainga ōku Whare Tipuna
Kō Mataatua mē Takitimu ōku waka
Kō Bill David Lewis raua kō Margaret May Johnson ōku tipuna, Kō Helen Lewis tōku māmā
Kō Tawhai Rickard tõku tāne rangatira
Kō Wiremu raua kō Shalom ā māua tamariki
Nō Te Moana a Toi-te-Huatahi ahau
Kō Tauranga Moana e noha ana au
Kō Tania Lewis-Rickard ahau. Kia Ora. My name is Tania Lewis-Rickard, I am dominantly of Māori, Walsh, Irish and Pakeha descent. I was born and raised in the Bay of Plenty region of Aotearoa and I am the second eldest of 11 siblings. Helen is my mum, Tawhai my husband, Wiremu and Shalom our children. ARTIST STATEMENT:
"This release of artistic and self expression stems from an exuberant desire to use my creative abilities to make a difference, to ignite change and contribute to the social good of all humanity.”
Kia Ora I have been a contemporary Māori visual artist and secondary school visual arts educator. I specialise in many fields of art, therefore I am not just one type of artist. So, I am a maker of art who sometimes paints, sometimes photographs, sometimes make moving image photography, sometimes make mixed media artworks and most of the time make a mess, haha. For some time and at a professional level I was doing a few photography commission jobs capturing moments of whānau, people, community and celebration. I have loved photographing kapahaka, especially at Te Matatini. I love photographing whānau on the marae, kai getting prepared, whānau laughing. I have also photographed my fair share of weddings. When I am photographing I am creating memories, recollecting history and storytelling while connecting people to place, time and culture. This goes the same for painting or when I am using mixed media to make my art...or at least trying to. CREATIVE ARTISTIC BACKGROUND
I have been a practising visual artist for many years specialising in mixed media paint, video art installation, moving image, fine art photography, conceptual and abstract mixed media photography. I exhibit my work frequently in art exhibitions throughout Aotearoa. As I explored a range of media for various kaupapa themes my interest grew more for photography and marrying photographic expression with paint and moving image. I am currently making light box art where I paint, make small videos, photograph the artwork and then put them into custom made light boxes. My process is pretty full on but I love that raw process, I learn alot about myself, my art, I learn to tolerate the technical issues that come with making art when using lights, cameras, video and paint all at the same time. Why do I bother? because I am always looking for that point of difference, I long to do something different, interesting, trying new things within the kaupapa, or the context of the narrative, the kaupapa. When I photograph I just capture or document the unplanned. The paint marks, the tohu, the photos brings the story to light, into the light of whakamarama understanding, the process of the art making reveals the depth of meaning, as in, there is this massive whakapapa narrative that comes from behind. I hope you try to understand where I am coming from. My mahi toi work can be fun and exciting, emotive or poignant or fierce and painful. I like to find beauty in things ordinary for the purpose of evoking the wairua emotion of the narrative. When people look at my work I want them to not just look but see, feel, connect and remember. I want my work to evoke a lasting impression that won’t easily be forgotten. I am an artist, I love what I do. This is who I am. no reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
�
