Tyrone Te Waa (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), born 1992, likens his preparations for art-making to foraging before cooking. His exuberant palette of materials — wood, fabric, paint and string — is found or gifted, then assembled through methods of binding, knotting, felting and wrapping to make wearable and unwearable objects, wall works and installations. His autobiographical and ancestral reflection is informed by research into takatāpui/gay/queer histories in Aotearoa New Zealand.
In 2021 Te Waa completed a Master of Creative Practice at Unitec Institute of Technology Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka. In 2022 he received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi Springboard Award. Recent exhibitions include: How to Make a Home, Objectspace (2024); Kumara Kuīni (NZ Idol) Awards Ceremony in Aotearoa Contemporary, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2024), Te Rūma Moenga / The Mattress Room (Memory Foam), Casula Powerhouse (2024), WīWī WāWā, Anna Miles Gallery, 2023 and Whetūrangitia/Made As Stars, Dowse Art Museum (2022).
