Sanderson presents a new exhibition by Simon Kaan (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Waitaha) and Wi Taepa (Ngāti Pikiao, Te Arawa) ONZM: Hiringa Nuku.
At the heart of Hiringa Nuku, a collaborative exhibition referencing ‘the energy of the earth’, Simon Kaan and Wi Taepa embody the sustaining power of a tuakana-teina relationship, one that stretches across many years and unfolds like a lifetime of conversations. In Te Ao Māori, the tuakana guides, nurtures, and shares knowledge, while the teina brings curiosity, energy, and fresh perspectives. In Kaan and Taepa’s collaboration, this dynamic is neither hierarchical nor fixed; it is a fluid, evolving conversation. Over the years, their practices have intertwined, diverged, and reconvened, each encounter adding layers of insight and form. Hiringa Nuku marks the latest chapter in this ongoing dialogue, reflecting how long-term collaboration fosters creativity, mentorship, and generational continuity.
The exhibition explores an elemental connection, with vessels recurring throughout as metaphors for relationality. Kaan’s paintings emerge from the rhythms of water and sky, his delicate elongated waka populate the surface of the works as markers of presence; reflecting both the artist’s identity and an invitation for the viewer to enter. Taepa’s clay vessels, rooted in whenua, provide an earthy counterpoint: fragile and resilient. They carry ancestral memory and the weight of the land. Together, painting and clay, create a meeting place where water meets the earth and the sky hovers above; suggesting a conversation between realms – both physical and spiritual.
