Robyn Maree Pickens
(Milford Galleries)
TE Rongo Kirkwood’s exhibition seems to occupy a space between ‘‘marama’’ meaning
‘‘to be clear’’ and ‘‘marama’’ meaning moon. In this case it is the lengthening of the ‘‘a’’ that shifts the word’s meaning from moon to something approaching the clarity of the moon on a bright night. I say this because many of the artworks in ‘‘Whanau Marama’’ invoke the planetary, the cosmic, and the ways in which earthly and celestial bodies may communicate and interconnect. The work 4th Dimension Harmonics (2018), for example, alludes to a dimension beyond the traditional three, and ‘‘harmonics’’ suggests sound or vibration as a connective modality. This work, like all works in the exhibition is kilnformed glass and, like one other, is composed of four pieces of glass arranged into a diamond shape. Within each of the four pieces lies a carefully composed chevron pattern that radiates outwards from the centre and diminishes at the apex of each angle.
Given the marama/marama dynamic there are also many circular forms in ‘‘Whanau Marama’’. Two works (a diptych) are bisected by a common horizontal line (one also with a vertical), while three circular glass works are energised by chevron shapeswithinshapes. These three works are related to one other by the parttitle they all share Morphic Resonancewhich, as with ‘‘harmonics’’ points to another mode of communication or interconnectivity.