‘‘Pepeha’’, Peata Larkin
(Milford Galleries Dunedin)
LOCKDOWN and a realisation of the interconnectedness of traditional patterns worldwide have combined to impressive effect in a new exhibition by Peata Larkin in which she explores her identity, whakapapa, and turangawaewae.
Larkin has always experimented heavily with her canvas surfaces. In previous works, she has injected paint through the wide mesh of canvas weave to create dotpattern paintings, and has also produced pieces which are simultaneously painted canvases and translucent surfaces of light box art. In her latest work, she takes a knife to her surfaces, marking out regular patterns of incisions over strong, painterly monochrome clouds.
Maori art tradition has always been a touchstone in Larkin’s work, with her canvases constantly referencing tukutuku panel patterns. Her latest works are no exception. Inspired in part by patterned cloth found during a trip to Europe, the artist has sensed the parallels between Maori geometries and those in some Mediterranean cultural design, and she has used these cloths as a basis for some of her work.
There is obvious joy in the pieces, despite their seeming meticulous nature. The broad brush stroke has freed up Larkin’s approach, and in some curious way, the use of punctured cloth has moved the work even closer to traditional Maori craft, bringing suggestions of both carving and tattooing to the surfaces.