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Clay artist Wi Taepa’s retrospective

For more than 30 years senior Māori clay artist Wi Taepa has loved getting his hands dirty.

His approach is determinedly low-tech. He builds his vessels by hand, fires them in sawdust, and uses oxides and other clay slips that have served him well during his long career.

He moved from carving wood to clay while working with boys in reform school back when he was a social worker.

Wi incorporates Māori design elements into his work and is respected as a significant figure in New Zealand art,

Auckland Art Gallery has just opened a retrospective exhibition of his working covering those three decades.

Wi Taepa in his studio, Whitireia Polytechnic, Porirua, 1990, Image courtesy of Whitireia Polytechnic.

Wi Taepa's Nuku Puta 1994 from Kauhuri Cultivation. Collection of The Dowse Art Museum. Photo Jeff McEwen.

Wi Taepa's Parautanga Plough 2005 from Kauhuri Cultivation. Collection of the artist Courtesy of Sonya Rimene. Photo Jeff McEwen.

Wi Taepa's Untitled Ipu 2000, from Mahere Mapping. Collection Pātaka Art + Museum. Photo Jeff McEwen.

Wi Taepa's Nuku Puta 1994 from Kauhuri Cultivation. Collection of The Dowse Art Museum. Photo Jeff McEwen.

Wi Taepa's Waka 2004 from Raranga Cross Hatching. Collection od Sir Roderick and Gillian, Lady Deane. Photo Jeff McEwen.

Wi Taepa's Whale Migration circa 1998 from Hononga Connections. Collection of Pātaka Art + Museum. Gift of the Deane Endowment Trust. Photo Jeff McEwen.

Nigel Borell, Curator, Maori Art at Auckland Art Gallery.

The images in this gallery are used with permission and are subject to copyright conditions.