Tahuone

Artisan Retail

I work under the ingoa Tahuone, a kupu which embodies baked earth and represents my uku/ ceramic practice. I make taonga uku in my home in Whaingaroa (Te Tai Tokerau) and am interested in homeware with reference to my chinese heritage and recently I've been exploring more sculptural toi auaha and toi māori. I do occasional sales on Instagram and also stock shops such as Te Papa, Toi Matarau (Ōtaki) and Aunties in Awanui.

With a very mixed whakapapa, I draw on my Māoritanga which is rich in storytelling and Hainamanatanga, a culture thousands of years deep in ceramics and art practice. These two cultures which led to me have striking similarities and I really enjoy allowing both to flow through me in my making. I should also say how much manaakitanga informs my making. Kai is a huge passion of mine from growing to preparing, cooking, serving and eating. Its a great joy of mine to make taonga that work within all these aspects and in my opnion can elevate each experience such as a drinking from a coveted coffee cup or serving rice to manuhiri in a hand carved bowl. Carving traditional and contemporary designs into some pieces is my way of inviting a positive energy into the item and thus the recipients life. I utilise wild clays and pigments in my making and working towards a practice using largely, or completely local clays and pigments from the whenua my tūpuna lived on I am part of a community of artists and makers in Aotearoa who feed, care and inspire each other in immeasurable ways.