Hiria Anderson-Mita was born, raised, and still lives in her whānau homestead in the Waikato township of Otorohanga.
Her art practice is focused on the everyday lives of the people in her community and she is interested, particularly, in the ways that Māori culture adapts and intersects with 21st century life.
Tim Melville is proud to present an exhibition of new paintings informed by the artist’s travel between her Otorohanga home and the cities of Auckland and Hamilton.
OTOROHANGA – PIRONGIA – HAMILTON
When you drive the rural back roads between Hamilton and Otorohanga you pass through Pirongia.
There’s a gully there that’s often filled with mist – and as you pass through it you have to slow down.
For a short time you feel as if you’re adrift in time and space.
The sun disappears behind a veil, the trees recede to outlines, the traffic noise is muffled, and when you finally emerge from fog into sunlight it feels as if you’re re-entering the world.
Te Ao Marama.
HAMILTON – MANUREWA – BRITOMART
When you’re on Te Huia, the train that runs between Hamilton and Auckland’s Britomart, the view as you travel up the island is like a rolling exhibition or movie.
Miles of rolling country in every shade of green transition into grey urban landscapes where different communities live in close proximity to each other.
Barriers and boundaries appear, fences and motorways, overbridges and underpasses.
Cultures clash and the brilliant colourful explosions of graffiti are like jabs in the eye.
Te Ao Marama.
