Wish You Were Here - Exhibition at Yvonne Rust Gallery - Whangerei

 

Gift (Koha) Series

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Gift Series 

Inheriting a pounamu Kuru from my Great-Aunt May sent me on a mission to understand the gift. With it came the legend that May saved the life of a local Maori child on a school outing to the river in the Kimbolton area of the Manawatu in the 30's. May was given this Kuru (ear pendant) as a gift of thanks by the child's family,

 

My Kuru inherited 40 years ago. 

Kuru pounamu were used in Maori oratory to refer to a deceased person held in great affection – ‘Taku kuru pounamu ka makere’ ('my kuru pounamu that has fallen'). As part of investigation into my family history I looked to the piece for inspiration using the image of the Kuru stacked up to represent past generations of our family. The works reflect the item once worn or held by another no longer of this world linking us to our past. However I prefer the viewer to invest their own response to these works. 

Please email for more info at jujuwood@gmail.com

2007 Pounamu Green. 1mx1m Acrylic on Canvas (Private Collection)

  2004 Pounamu Indigene 1m x 1 m oil on canvas (Private collection NZ)

 Twins 2003 Oil on plywood 1m x .5 m (Private Collection NZ )

Pohutukawa Oil on Plywood 2003 1m x .5 m (Private Collection NZ )

Pounamu : Oil on canvas 75 x 35 cm (Private Collection NZ )

Gift : 1m x 1 m Oil on canvas (Private collection NZ)

70x 30cm Oil on canvas (Private collection NZ)

Gift: 30x30cm Oil on canvas (Private collection NZ)

Gift cross : 30x30cm Oil on canvas (Private collection NZ)

Works hung in Gallery 2004 Auckland

Gifts : 40x13cm Oil on canvas (Private collection NZ)

Detail Gifts.
 

 2007 Square Foot Show APW Gallery, Manhattan NY. (Private collection Hoboken, NJ)