The life cycle of Māhina is an eagerly anticipated exhibition of new works by Michel Tuffery – including woodcut prints, graphite drawings, and metal sculptures. This body of work was inspired by Michel’s recent involvement in a local artist residency at St Patrick’s College, Silverstream, Upper Hutt as well as a large community drawing installation undertaken in Porirua.
Michel’s woodcut prints are a visual response to the wider conversations had with students and colleagues at St Patrick’s College about the Silverstream environ and its tuna inhabitants; the tuna’s different growth stages; their journey to Tonga for breeding and their offsprings’ return to Aotearoa. These prints also serve as an artistic campaign highlighting the need to protect and save the Silverstream habitat.
“At the front of the College there is one significant Pou amongst several, a marker to the original settlement which the woodcut print Te Kāeaea/Taringa Kurī - Listening to the Stream - Tuna, Ngāti Tama visually narrates, binding the past to the now. This Pou was the conversation starter with my students and colleagues as very few knew the meaning behind the carving, leading to a focused study on the history and environment, we began looking at the synergies and how are they relevant today, stimulating a wider assessment of the ‘Awa to Moana’ sustainability, migration, and habitat.”
Within the exhibition, Michel’s drawings and sculptures support the tuna narrative of his woodcut prints, enveloping broader narratives of the greater environment – of awa, moana, and phases of māhina – all visual reminders of connection, interconnection, and the cycle of life.
Michel Tuffery is a New Zealand-based artist of Samoan, Rarotongan and Ma’ohi Tahitian heritage. Within his art practice, Michel plays the role of working ‘in between’ people and places and focusing a fresh lens on environmental, community, cultural, and art historical divides. He is a passionate educator who openly shares his kauapapa and knowledge to empower youth through residencies and workshops for school-aged children in New Zealand and abroad. Michel exhibits worldwide and has undertaken research and community residencies throughout the USA, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Asia, India, and Australia as well as Aotearoa and the Pacific. In 2008, Michel was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to art and his ongoing rewards come from enriching communities through his art.
