TYRONE TE WAA

WīWī WāWā

15/07/23 — 12/08/23

A much anticipated first exhibition at the Gallery by the artist who compares his art-making process to ‘cooking lunch’. Using an exuberant and tactile palette — wood, fabric, paint and string — he combines methods of assembling, binding, hiding, attaching, knotting, tangling, felting and wrapping. His autobiographical and ancestral reflection is informed by research into takatāpui/gay/queer histories in Aotearoa New Zealand – and the language of avant-garde deconstructive fashion.

Tyrone completed a Master of Creative Practice at Unitec in 2021. In 2022 he was awarded an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi Springboard and was mentored by artist, Maungarongo ‘Ron’ Te Kawa. Recent exhibitions include Clingwrap, Sanc Gallery (2021), Circle Turtle (with Reece King), Papakura Art Gallery (2022), Twisting, turning, winding: takatāpui and queer objects, Objectspace (2022) and Whetūrangitia/Made As Stars, Dowse Art Museum (2022).

See more by Tyrone Te Waa

Tyrone Te Waa. Photograph: Samuel Hartnett with additions by Samuel Almeida Díaz

Mycelium, 2023 (detail)

1. Mycelium, 2023
Wool, stretcher, nylon, 1350 x 260mm

2. Wake up, you Kumara! 2023
Wool, stretcher, nylon, 950 x 185mm

Wake up, you Kumara! 2023 (detail)

3. Kaukau, 2023
Wool, fringe, stretcher, 500 x 255mm

3. Kaukau, 2023 (reverse)

Wake up, you Kumara! 2023, Kaukau, 2023 and Bird Snare from Ongarue Pub (after Nanny Te Kehi), 2023 installed in WīWīWāWā

4. Bird Snare from Ongarue Pub (after Nanny Te Kehi), 2023
Japanese cotton, metal, felt, 1880 x 950mm

4. Bird Snare

5. Scrappy and Tau, 2023 (with Samuel Montgomerey)
Wool, thread, salvaged textiles with reclaimed kauri, chestnut and purple heart (feet), 2500 and 2330mm H