Te Haunui Tuna has a passion for sketching Māori gods in pencil. He's the first creative artist profiled in the new Te Ahi Kaa series Toi.
Artist Te Haunui Tuna at his exhibition space ATUA at Whakatane Exhibition Centre. Photo: RNZ/Justine Murray
Te Haunui loves to draw with a simple HB Pencil and although he likes colours, he is colourblind.
“Not many people know that. Sometimes pinks and greys look the same” Te Haunui tells Justine Murray.
The characters he depicts are inspired by Māori stories and narratives, including Hinepukohurangi who is known in Ngai Tuhoe as the mist that covers the Urewera ranges.
The gods are often large characters with bulging muscles.
Te Haunui's exhibition Atua: Māori Gods and Spirits of Aotearoa opened at the Whakatane Exhibition Centre this July, and he plans to show an expanded version of the exhibition in two years time.
“This whole exhibition came from an idea from my partner at the end of 2014 to sketch every week… and upload it to social media.”
Te Haunui has worked as a taa moko (traditional Māori tattoo) artist since 2007 but decided to retire from taa moko this year because he's not as passionate about moko as he once was.
He plans to take his art to the next level with research into gaming graphic novels and movies.
Te Haunui will retired from Moko later this year to pursue his art. Photo: RNZ/Justine Murray
Inspired by his father whose art was displayed inside the home, Te Haunui graduated from WINTEC in 2014 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Media Studies.
As part of his coursework, he staged his first solo exhibition.
Te Haunui's work was captured in Dr Rangi Mataamua’s 2017 book Matariki: The Star of the Year and his interpretation of the nine stars of Matariki also features in his Powerpoint presentations.
Dr Mataamua provided text to accompany the Atua exhibition.
The nine stars of Matariki by Te Haunui Tuna Photo: Supplied - Te Haunui Tuna
One of Te Haunui's pencil works is a depiction of Rongo, the god of peace.
“Rongo was a hard one [to draw]. Most of the atua I do they are kind of angry. I was trying to look for someone calm. There is a little Manuka branch in his hand... Inspired by the toa who do the wero [to see] if the manuhiri come in peace or not.”
The first gods Te Haunui drew were Tanemahuta (God of the Forest) and Tumatauenga (God of War) back in 2015.
After that, he began to dig deeper and sketch from different angles while still remaining true to the historical narrative.
“The reason my stuff looks different is because I look at other artists for inspiration, not just Māori art, and then I bring it back to Māoridom and I see what I can do with it.”
Photo: Supplied - Te Haunui Tuna
Te Haunui's signature includes small sketches of tuna or koura to represent his last name and his hapū Ngāti Koura.
In the new series Toi, Te Ahi Kaa meets people whose artwork reflects their political aspirations, historical narratives and stories.
