Curated by Gina Matchitt, Īnakinaki is an exhibition of current works by Wi Taepa and Kristin O’Sullivan Peren. Their diverse practices of uku, printmaking, and digital light coding intersect in this installation.

Glossary
Uku – clay
Kaiako – teacher
Tauira – student
Wānanga – Māori based learning
Rangatahi – young people
Kaupapa – ideas
Whakairo – design/form

The artists' paths crossed professionally in the 1990s at Whitireia Polytechnic, in Porirua. Kaiako and tauira identified with each other’s creative processes taught within local wānanga-based education for rangatahi.

Īnakinaki translates as 'to cover with overlapping layers' and reflects the layering of the artists' kaupapa and whakairo. Both artists consider whenua/landscape, whakapapa/geneology and the narratives explored through the making process.

Wi Taepa
Wi Te Tau Pirika Taepa, (Te-Roro-o-Te-Rangi, Te Arawa, Te Āti Awa) is a master of Māori clay art, with a career spanning over 30 years. Taepa is celebrated for his unique practice - his works are predominantly hand built using coil, slab or pinch pot techniques. The artist has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally, including a solo exhibition at City Gallery Te Whare Toi Wellington in 2012 and a retrospective in 2018 at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Taepa has a Masters of Māori Visual Arts from Massey University, 2017; Bachelor of Fine Arts, Wanganui Polytechnic, 1999; New Zealand Certificate of Craft Design, Whitireia Polytechnic, 1992-1998; Māori Design Nga Hanga Whakairo, Massey University, 1997; Quantity Cookery, Māori Intensive Language course, Wellington Polytechnic, 1980; Penology, Acts and Regulation, Prison Staff College, 1978. He is held in the following collections: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, The Wallace Arts Trust.

Kristin O’Sullivan Peren
Born in Rotorua, Kristin O’Sullivan Peren is now based in Central Otago. She is a multimedia artist whose practice responds to the extremes of land, language, and object. She uses light as the underlining agent that reveals the mistranslated history of her subject matter. Often drawn to subjects around waste, her work explores the colonial past as well as the fast acceleration of climate change and its links to humans. She explored similar themes in Ireland (in 1996) that resulted in land grabs, burning of natural resources and ultimately destruction of human life.

Kristin O’Sullivan Peren’s work comes from a history as a print-maker, visible by a clear and developed methodology derived from materials and process. Recent large-scale projects extend within photographic, sculptural and electronic fields using both digital and analogue technologies. Her work has been exhibited in Ireland, Australia, England and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Gina Matchitt
Gina Matchitt, Ngāti Rangitihi (Te Arawa, Ngāti Ngahere/Te Whakatōhea and Te Whakatōhea) is a New Zealand Māori jeweller, weaver, curator and artist.

She grew up in Rotorua, New Zealand and studied jewellery at Unitec School of Design and Māori Visual Arts at Toioho ki Apiti, Māori Visual Arts at Massey University. Drawing on her iwi affiliations, Te Arawa and Te Whakatāhea, her work is a fusion of Māori and Pākeha practice, knowledge and concepts.

‍Matchitt explores mātauranga Māori by reinterpreting Māori pattern and language with contemporary materials. Using recycled computer keys, stickers, fabric, photography and duct tape, Matchitt's work contributes to the Toi Māori visual language in the 21stcentury.

In 2019 her work He Tohutono (The Commanding Sign) was the runner up at the National Contemporary Art Awards at Waikato Museum. Matchitt's work is featured in many New Zealand collections including Te Papa Tongarewa - The National Museum of New Zealand, Auckland Museum, Auckland Art Gallery and The Dowse. The artist has also exhibited internationally in Australia, The Netherlands, United States, Switzerland and Turkey, and her work features in the 2023 publication Ki Mua Ki Muri – 25 years of Toiohi ki Āpiti.