Robyn Kahukiwa

Born in Sydney (Australia), Robyn Kahukiwa recognises Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Konohi and Whanau-a-Ruataupare descent through her mother.

Kahukiwa is one of a group of wahine toa recognised for forging a new identity for Māori woman artists in Aotearoa in the 1980s. As part of the Māori diaspora in Australia, Kahukiwa is described as rediscovering her Māori heritage through the 1970s. A process that led to the "seminal exhibition Wahine Toa: Women of Māori Myth, which toured New Zealand in 1983."

"Kahukiwa’s paintings investigate the diversity of urban Māori and Pacific communities, and often represent her personal search for cultural identity. Her mural-scale paintings are populated with ancestral figures, native birds, plants and trees, and their commentary relates to the realities and struggles of Māori."

~ cited from the Chartwell Trust

See also:

• Ocula
• wikipedia