RINGA TOI

KO MOTATAU TŌKU MAUNGA 

KO HIKURANGI TŌKU AWA 

KO NGATOKIMATAWHAORUA TŌKU WAKA

KO NGĀPUHI TŌKU IWI

KO NGĀTI HINE RAUA KO NGĀTI WAI ŌKU IWI

KO TAU HENARE TŌKU MARAE

KO ZION TIPENE TŌKU INGOA

NO PIPIWAI AHAU

MY EARLY DAYS OF DRAWING WERE ALMOST 100% INSPIRED BY DRAGONBALL Z AND MARVEL/DC COMICS. MY COUSIN AND I USED TO RECORD DBZ EPISODES ON MY NANS VCR RECORDER THEN PAUSE IT AND TRACE DRAWINGS STRAIGHT OFF THE TV UNTIL WE COULD DRAW THEM FREEHAND. MY BROTHER ALSO HAD A STACK OLD COMIC BOOKS WE WOULD PINCH AND COPY DRAWINGS FROM. BY THE TIME I FINISHED SCHOOL I WAS FAIRLY GUN AT THAT PARTICULAR ART STYLE.

FAST FORWARD A FEW YEARS AND WHILE OVER IN AUSTRALIA I FORMED A REAL INTEREST IN MĀORI AND PASIFIKA ART, ESPECIALLY TĀMOKO STYLE DESIGN. I BEGAN COPYING DESIGNS AND STARTED SLOWLY DEVELOPING MY OWN STYLE AND FINDING A LOVE FOR THE ART FORM. AFTER A WHILE I CAME TO A REALISATION THAT THE REASON I LOVED TOI MĀORI WAS BECAUSE IT ACTED AS A BASE FOR MY RECONNECTION TO MY MĀORITANGA. I ALSO MADE A DECISION THAT I WANTED TO PURSUE IT AS A VOCATION.

JUMP AHEAD TO MID-COVID TIMES AND I BOUGHT AN IPAD KNOWING WE COULD BE SPENDING ALL OF OUR TIME IN LOCKDOWN. I STARTED REALLY RESEARCHING AND TALKING TO A FEW MOKO ARTIST ABOUT CREATIVE AVENUES AND DIFFERENT LANES I COULD FIND MYSELF IN. I KNEW I WANTED TO DO ART FULL-TIME AND HAD COMMITTED TO REACHING THAT GOAL. AS A RESULT OF ALL THE TIME AT HOME IN LOCKDOWN I WAS ABLE TO SPEND HOURS EVERYDAY LEARNING AND REFINING MY SKILLSET AS A MĀORI VISUAL ARTIST. FOR A WHILE I WAS DOING COMMISSIONED DESIGN WORK AS A FREELANCE ARTIST BUT I KNEW I NEEDED TO LEVEL UP. 

2022 CAME AROUND AND A DECISION WAS MADE TO START ASMALL BUSINESS WHICH WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME KAIHANU CREATIVE. I DEVELOPED ORIGINAL PRINTS AND DONE COMMISSIONED DESIGN MAHI ALL YEAR AS WELL AS TAKING MY MAHI TO LOCAL AUCKLAND MARKETS. 

STARTING 2023 I WAS ABLE TO DO SOME TRAINING IN DESIGN SOFTWARE AND I RECENTLY STARTED AS A FULL-TIME GRAPHIC DESIGNER WITH A MĀORI ORGANISATION.

SPECIAL MENTION TO MY LATE MOTHER WHO ALWAYS SUPPORTED ME IN MY ARTISTIC PURSUITS