Season is honoured to present Takoto ai te marino: Te hokinga mai by Raukura Turei. The works in the show explore and embody connections to atua and tīpuna. They have been created using pigments harvested from sites to which Turei is tied by whakapapa and whānau history, including Te Tai-o-Rehua (the Tasman Sea), the Manukau Harbour, and Tīkapakapa Moana (the Hauraki Gulf).
Takoto ai te marino was first presented at the Dowse Art Museum in Te Awakairangi Lower Hutt in 2023, and travelled to the Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū in Whakatū Nelson this year. It now returns to Tāmaki Makaurau, the artist’s home, where all the works were made and many of the materials were gathered. The title of the exhibition derives from a Hauraki iwi whakataukī, ‘Takoto ai te marino horahia i waho rā’ (‘The sea is calm, stretching far into the distance’), which refers to the calm waters of Tīkapakapa Moana, a source of aumoana (blue clay) for Turei. Her other primary materials are onepū (black iron sand) and kerewhenua (yellow ochre).
