Robyn Kahukiwa (Ngati Porou) is one of Aotearoa’s pre-eminent Maori painters. She was born in Australia in 1938 and moved to New Zealand in 1955. This move brought about Kahukiwa’s rediscovery of her Maori heritage, which became a central aspect of her art-making practice. Since her first solo exhibition in 1971, Kahukiwa has engaged in a painting practice that passionately articulates her identity as a Maori wahine.

Her work celebrates Maori tikanga and traditional values through powerful portrayal of people and their interconnecting relationships with their whakapapa, legends and the land. Kahukiwa’s practice began with painting in her kitchen when her children were young.

She was ardent about instilling ...