Lissy & Rudi Robinson-Cole, Te Pupuke / The Increase, 2023. New Zealand Wool and polystyrene, 50 x 40 x 17cm. Courtesy: the artists and Tim Melville Gallery, Auckland.

Lissy & Rudi Robinson-Cole are a husband and wife team who work together exploring mātauranga Māori and their personal whakapapa through crocheted sculptural forms.

The exhibition title translates as “My Darling”.

Their most ambitious project to date, due to be unveiled later in 2023, is a full-size Wharenui (Māori meeting house) made from crocheted wool, with the name Wharenui Harikoa (House of Joy). The artists describe Wharenui Harikoa as “a refracting prism of tūpuna-inspired light that shines across the sky like a rainbow. Our practice is grounded in one central kaupapa; to transform intergenerational trauma into deeply felt joy, one loop at a time”.

“Our TMG exhibition includes large photographs of three of the poupou (wall panels) from the wharenui and a dozen crocheted “wheku”, they continue, “a wheku is the carved face of an ancestor, traditionally found at the apex of the gable on a Wharenui, but these wheku – extremely non-traditionally – are carved from polystyrene and covered with colourful crocheted wool.

Of the the duo, the gallery says that “these two artists bring us something we didn’t know we were missing – aroha and joy. Their infectious energy is life-affirming and celebratory and their artworks connect us to one another, reminding us that the world can be a joyful place.”

Opening Event: Wednesday 28 June, 6 – 8pm.

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