He Ipu Wai
Our bodies as the vessel for interacting with change and embodying our responsibility to our waters as people, we are the kaihoe and the embodiment of waiti and waita - we are made of water. Our body markings express in a physical way our ongoing adaptability to the ongoing changing challenges to our environment.
Julie has been at the forefront of developments in Māori Arts since the mid 1980s and was fortunate to have been taught herself by strong visionary Māori artists and mentors. Julie focused her passion on Māori tattooing traditions post-1990, enlightened to the role that Tā moko could play in advancing the health and well-being of Māori.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Julie Paama-Pengelly has been at the forefront of developments in Māori Arts since the mid 1980s and was fortunate to have been taught herself by strong visionary Māori artists and mentors through the Toioho ki Apiti Bachelor of Māori Arts programme, of which she was a foundation student and served as student mentor.
Julie has a passion for Māori design and Tā moko-skin marking traditions, pioneering the role of women as Tā moko practitioners during the Tā moko revival period in the 1990s. Her subsequent experiences as an educator, writer, curator, designer and artist practitioner have influenced her ongoing drive to strategize Māori arts and artists development, culminating in her current role as chairperson of Te Tuhi Mareikura Trust (2015).
Julie has directed leadership in research and social commentary on Māori arts and understands the importance of evolving art in her own work creation which explores a range of media located within a unique Māori pedagogical framework. Julie balances her art practice against the demands of her other strategic work, which includes commissioned Māori design, public works and curatorial, painted works and printmaking as well as 3D sculpture and the crafting tattoo hand tools.