Robin White wood cut series

Biography:

Dame Robin Adair White DNZM is a well-known New Zealand painter and printmaker of Māori descent and a vocal champion of Pasifika culture. A teacher of weaving within the Pacific community, she currently lives in Masterton, New Zealand.

Raised in Auckland, White graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1967, where she was taught by leading New Zealand artist, Colin McCahon, and whose influence on White’s practice has remained.

In the 1980s after a brief period in Dunedin, White moved to Kiribati, a small atoll island in the Pacific, and developed an interest in the local practices of woodblock printing. As an extension of her practice, White also learned to work with natural fibres such as pandanus and barkcloth (tapa) to produce woven textile pieces.

In 2017, White received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award and a University of Auckland Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012. In 2009, she was honoured as Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

White's work is included in institutional collections across New Zealand and Australia, including Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki; Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato; Dunedin Public Art Gallery; Hocken Library, University of Otago; Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

Artwork:

One of White’s favourite works [1], this series of woodcuts, “Sainimele and the Fisherman”, was produced during her time in Kiribati, in 1995.

White points to the Kiribati fisherwoman, Sainimele, appearing in each work:

“She’s got a purpose in her life which is to go fishing. As she’s doing that, she’s noting what he’s doing – the fisherman is drunk and trying to stab himself. He’s a mixed-up bloke, mixed up with alcohol. It’s a metaphor for what is going on everywhere in society. What I was commenting on here is a microcosm in society – a process of growth and learning and positive vision and outlook, a life of service with positive outcomes. The other is a process of decline, which will end in nothingness and is destined to fade. Side by side. It’s a question of choice. Make your choice. Which path are you going to choose? A process of growth or a process of decline?’’[2]

Each print is inscribed with a reference to the narrative inherent to the work, as follows:

“Tera ae kam karaoia?” -  What are you doing?

“Antai ae e mate?” -  Who is dead?

“Kam aki iri?” -  Aren't you coming?

“Ti bon rabakau n akawa” -  We are very good at fishing.

Read: more about Robin White’s unique art practice here