Tama: bi-annual super-mega update! (image heavy) - Tiki Gallery

T Tamapoutini Member Aotearoa (New Zealand) Joined: Aug 30, 2006 Posts: 1530	T Tamapoutini Posted posted on Mon, Apr 2, 2012 2:28 AM A Gallery Forum? Damn, I have been away a long time. For those unfamiliar with my personal tiki obsession; I am a fulltime self-employed carver in Aotearoa/New Zealand, working in the highly valued, traditional medium of 'pounamu' or 'greenstone' (technically, nephrite jade). This hard, translucent stone was favoured by pre-contact Maori for its superior strength and beauty & widely traded for use as tools, weapons and personal adornment. It is only found in a few isolated geographical areas (associated with tectonic plate activity) and is legally under the guardianship of local iwi/family groups from these areas. To this day the material is held in almost spiritual regard by Maori, an uncut touchstone often treated like a family member, inducing tears when touched after long absence. Personal items fashioned from this stone are worn by many and traditionally believed to inherit the 'mana' (esteem) of their owner/s, often handed down for hundreds of years as heirloom pieces. ok, enough about the stone.. it has Tikis inside it, alright? Ill kick off with a few 'trads' as they account for around half of my work; the original maori "heiTiki": Had enough of those? Another traditional variant, the 'side-hanging' type heiTiki. The fingers touching throat or mouth pertain to oratory skill, of vital importance to a culture with no written language: phew! Time for some less traditional, more contemporary work. All designs/motifs are traditional in some sense but often plucked from woodcarving/weaponery etc and reused out of context as adornment. 'Upoko'(head) or 'Wheku/Koruru' (gable mask atop carved meeting house) inspired: Another, belonging to a TC member (I think/hope this is the one J? - apologies if I am mistaken, there have been so many, doh!): Different style: Unique piece, loosely inspired/representing the stabby-end of the taiaha (long hand-to-hand combat weapon): Contemporary 'pekapeka', native bat formed of double-headed manaia: Smaller version: anutha: Unique contemporary example: 'Toki-wheku', a woodcarving adze (toki), topped by wheku/koruru head: 'Toki-tekoteko', toki/adzeblade, topped by a tekoteko figure (the lifesize full-body figures found inside the carved wharenui/meeting house): 'Toki-Manaia', adze topped with a 'manaia' figure (invisible, beneficent guardian-spirit type creature found in woodcarving, often highly abstracted) Unique, contemporary Manaia: Another unique figure, designed to fit an oddly shaped piece of stone: Contemporary Tiki: 'Koro' (old man): Tahitian/Austral inspired 'Ti'i' figure, carved from obsidian (volcanic glass): 'Putiputi' (flower): heiMatau/fish hook: Unique heiTiki, an experiment to see if I could simplify-away the arm/legholes altogether: 'Toa-iti' (little warrior): Mottled warrior: JT :wink: 'Tane-iti' (little man): Well, thats it for now. Please feel free to ask any Qs. If anyone needs me, Im in the workshop.. :) Tama [ Edited by: Tamapoutini 2012-04-02 04:17 ]

A Gallery Forum? Damn, I have been away a long time.

For those unfamiliar with my personal tiki obsession; I am a fulltime self-employed carver in Aotearoa/New Zealand, working in the highly valued, traditional medium of 'pounamu' or 'greenstone' (technically, nephrite jade). This hard, translucent stone was favoured by pre-contact Maori for its superior strength and beauty & widely traded for use as tools, weapons and personal adornment. It is only found in a few isolated geographical areas (associated with tectonic plate activity) and is legally under the guardianship of local iwi/family groups from these areas. To this day the material is held in almost spiritual regard by Maori, an uncut touchstone often treated like a family member, inducing tears when touched after long absence. Personal items fashioned from this stone are worn by many and traditionally believed to inherit the 'mana' (esteem) of their owner/s, often handed down for hundreds of years as heirloom pieces.

ok, enough about the stone.. it has Tikis inside it, alright?

Ill kick off with a few 'trads' as they account for around half of my work; the original maori "heiTiki":

Had enough of those? Another traditional variant, the 'side-hanging' type heiTiki. The fingers touching throat or mouth pertain to oratory skill, of vital importance to a culture with no written language:

phew! Time for some less traditional, more contemporary work. All designs/motifs are traditional in some sense but often plucked from woodcarving/weaponery etc and reused out of context as adornment.

'Upoko'(head) or 'Wheku/Koruru' (gable mask atop carved meeting house) inspired: