TYRONE TE WAA
KĀKĀ KĀ
23/11/24 — 12/12/24
Tyrone Te Waa (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), born 1992, likens his preparations for art-making to foraging before cooking. His exuberant palette of materials — wood, fabric, paint and string — is found or gifted, then assembled through methods of binding, knotting, felting and wrapping to make wearable and unwearable objects, wall works and installations. His autobiographical and ancestral reflection is informed by research into takatāpui/gay/queer histories in Aotearoa New Zealand.
In 2021 Te Waa completed a Master of Creative Practice at Unitec Institute of Technology Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka. In 2022 he received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi Springboard Award. Recent exhibitions include: How to Make a Home, Objectspace (2024); Kumara Kuīni (NZ Idol) Awards Ceremony in Aotearoa Contemporary, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2024), Te Rūma Moenga / The Mattress Room (Memory Foam), Casula Powerhouse (2024), WīWī WāWā, Anna Miles Gallery, 2023 and Whetūrangitia/Made As Stars, Dowse Art Museum (2022).
Ko Ruru, 2024
Felted wool, stretcher, 180 x 245mm
KĀKĀ KĀ install view
Gravy, 2024 (detail)
Felted wool, metal, cotton, drop dimensions: 920mm
Gravy, 2024
Crow, 2024
Felted wool, metal, cotton, drop dimensions: 780mm
Blue Thing, 2021-4
Timber, fabric, thread, c600 x 550mm
Kūī, 2024
Timber, velvet, thread, c590 x 350mm
Katakata, 2024
Cotton tapestry and glass, 200 x 125mm
Ear Lobe, 2024
Timber, upholstery fabric, thread, foam, c850 x 520mm
Ear Lobe insitu
PĪPĪ, 2024 (left)
Cotton, textile dye, memory foam, 700 x 400 x 150mm
Ū, 2024 (right)
Cotton, textile dye, foam mattress, 1900 x 900 x 200mm
Putiputi, 2024
Felted wool, stretcher, 310 x 260mm
KĀKĀ KĀ, 2024
Felted wool, bed leg, ink, 430 x 360 x 110mm
Putiputi, 2024 and KĀKĀ KĀ, 2024
Whakamoemoe, 2024
Cotton, textile dye, foam mattress, 1900 x 920 x 200mm
Whakamoemoe, 2024
PIKOPIKO, 2024
Cotton, textile dye, stretcher, sheet, 405 x 305 x 75mm
PIKOPIKO, 2024
KEKĒ, 2023
Timber, fabric, thread, c780 x 370mm
Toops Radio, 2024
Cotton, textile dye, stretcher, 360 x 280mm
E Kurī, 2024
Cotton, textile dye, stretcher, 245 x 180mm
AU, 2024
Cotton, textile dye, stretcher, 360 x 280mm
Hā, 2024
Cotton, textile dye, stretcher, 245 x 180mm
Tawhaki, 2024
Cotton, textile dye, stretcher, 360 x 280mm
Nanekoti, 2024
Cotton, textile dye, stretcher, 315 x 250mm
HAU, 2024
12 ink on card drawings, framed.
All archival materials and UV glass, 385 x 300mm each (framed)
Toops Radio, E Kurī and AU insitu