Pita Rua Lagan

Pita Rua Lagan is a whakāiro artist of Ngāi Tūhoe descent. Born around 1944, possibly at Matahi, Te Urewera, he has been based in Picton for many years. He began carving at 15 years old and has remained carving into his 70s. In 2014 he was recorded as saying: "There is no stopping - in the Maori language there is no word for retirement. Retirement means you want to die, so you keep going until you can't go anymore." At this particular time he was unveiling playground carvings in Oamaru, in the end a total of 5 wild animal sculptures carved from Totara, funded by the Friendly Bay Bridge Restoration Trust.

Though noted for his traditional whakairo Pou (1983) in Kawerau and Punatoto - The Life Force (1990) in the Reserve Bank, Wellington, Lagan appears to have preferred using a chainsaw in recent years to carve magical and wondrous animals including bears, owls and lizards.

See also:

• Chloe Winter, 'Old tree gets new life from carvings' Marlborough Express, 24 Nov 2014
• Hamish MacLean, 'And then there were five' Otago Daily Times, 9 February 2016