He kokonga whare e kitea

He kokonga whare e kitea, he kokonga ngākau e kore e kitea. 
The corners of a house can be seen, but the corners of the heart cannot be seen. 
 
Foregrounding the transformation of thread with uku through the artist’s unique processes, Ange materialises a sensitive expression of whakapapa, interwoven with the natural environment, cosmology and the human experience.  
 
With ancestral connections to the once kauri rich far north, Ange draws from this taonga as a symbolic presence of her whakapapa. By confining herself to her chosen materials, cotton, ukutea (gypsum plaster) and kauri, Ange approaches her practice intuitively through making processes which challenge traditional textile tenets. 

About the artist

Ange Oliver (Te Aupōuri, Ngaī Takoto, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Korokoro, Te Roroa, Ngāpuhi, Croation, Welsh, English) is an artist and kui to her first mokopuna and lives in Te Whanganui a Tara. She is close to completing her Master of Māori Visual Arts at Toioho ki Āpiti, Pūtahi a Toi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University. Ange was also  awarded the Collin Post Memorial Scholarship in Sculpture 2023.

@angerlia.o

With the support of Creative New Zealand

Image courtesy of the artist