Whānau

Acrylic on plywood 1200 x 1200mm

This is my take on the tukutuku pattern pātiki, meaning flounder (it’s a fish). This pattern, pātiki, represent prosperity, plenty, flourishing. Whānau means family, but not in terms of a traditional family unit, but all of our ties. This is a representation of my whānau. It represents me in the middle and my whakapapa (my genealogy) both ways, my tupuna (ancestors), my contemporaries (brothers, sisters, cousins, cousin’s cousins) and my kids and mokopuna (grandkids – hint, hint—for my kids).

This also reminds me of the promise made to Abraham that his children would number more than the sands of the seas and the stars in heaven. It is a reminder to me that God does not break His promises. Remember that Abraham didn’t have kids until he and Sarah didn’t have kids until they were in their old age. This would have left me wondering about what was going on with that promise. But that’s about me, I am impatient. Ask my kids.

We have six kids (I think my wife thinks she has seven kids), and sometimes that seems like all the stars in the heavens, particularly during the teenage years (shesh!). But I wouldn’t have it any other way (I did not think that during those ‘moments’), but each of them are my stars. Remember the actions to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star when it comes to the word ‘diamond’, this is depicted in the pātiki pattern and that each is a diamond sent from heaven.