Tāne Lawless was a teenager when his mother died. More than two decades later, the Taupō artist is using spray cans and a paintbrush to honour his wildlife-worshiping mum and other beloved women in his life.
His latest public piece, commissioned for the town’s annual Graffiato street art event at Labour Weekend, will stretch along two sections of footpath in central Taupō and pay homage to the talented female weavers in his whakapapa. Earlier murals can be found on the walls of downtown buildings and in schools around the district, often featuring the birds his schoolteacher mother Kim Lawless taught him to appreciate.
“I was 17 when she died,” Tāne says. “Even today, I think about her all the time and she has a lot to do with my passion for nature and art.”
As a volunteer field researcher, Kim monitored native bats and was fascinated by the native wood rose pua o te reinga. While Tāne was growing up, she would identify birdlife during family forays into the bush for firewood, or to gather native tree bark to dye weaving fibres.
Learning to fly
Her son’s interest in the natural world extends well beyond art. Tāne (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngati Pikiao) has his own wildlife monitoring contracting company, though he is also involved in voluntary pest control work. He is a qualified mechanic who screen prints clothing for his own urban streetwear brand Flawless Clothing. On the side, he volunteers with the national bird of prey centre Wingspan, helping prepare juvenile karearea New Zealand native falcons for release into the wild. He is working with young birds that have been orphaned, or whose parents are injured, to help them learn to fly and survive by themselves.
“I’m their surrogate parent, their whangai parent,” he says, describing the months spent bonding with and watching over the birds on Taupō’s Tauhara mountain. “You fall in love with them, then let them fly away.”
However, his latest artwork veers away from the avian themes that have dominated his earlier Graffiato murals. This time around, he has painted a traditional taniko weaving pattern, as part of a downtown transformation project.
“I’ve never done anything like this but when Taupō District Council approached me and mentioned taniko, I pricked up my ears.
Weaving with paint
“This is meaningful to me. It made me think about my mum and grandmother and aunties. They were all weavers, all beautiful, passionate and humble, good leaders for their people. People would look up to them.”
Before starting on the design, the artist sought advice from his paternal grandmother Matekino Lawless and aunt Christina Wirihana. Both are renowned weavers. They discussed the history and cultural significance of the design and the fact the art would be painted underfoot and walked on daily like a whāriki floor mat. They talked about the scale – two pieces, each roughly 35m long – and the decision to utilise road marking paint for longevity.
“They know all about it, they are fascinated and they’ve been giving me pointers. My grandmother is 94 and I visit her every week now.
“My work, it’s a connection to what they do. If you’ve ever watched weavers do what they do, it’s beautiful and I grew up being around it. I loved it. I can’t do it with flax but I can do it with paint.”
Tāne encouraged his children Kori, 12, and Keanu, seven, to pick up brushes during the Graffiato festival. He is teaching his sons about native flora and fauna and encouraging them to speak te reo Maori (Maori language), too. It’s all part of the boys’ legacy, ensuring they feel that same connection with their whanau.
The World Comes to Taupō
The footpath mural is one of 10 new original paintings added to the 85 murals already created during what is New Zealand’s longest-running annual street art festival.
This is the seventh time Tāne, who lives walking distance from his woven artwork, has been involved. He has relished working alongside talented street artists from around New Zealand and the globe and has no doubt the festival increases cultural awareness in his town.
“I look at the town as a museum now, or like an art gallery. You have people walking down alleyways they didn’t ever walk down before because they’re looking at a beautiful art gallery.
“I’m always learning, too. We can’t all travel the world or the country but I’m quite lucky because the world comes to me.”
Find out more about the Graffiato: Taupō Street Art Festival at www.taupostreetart.com
Credit: Author - Sue Hoffart; Photographer - Krystal Rakatau.
