Tūī

By Sonny Hape

Muka, natural dye, paru, korari, hue

390mm × 490mm × 900mm

This piece is part of a series that pays tribute to the birds traditionally used to adorn woven work, recognising their beauty and significance in Māori culture and weaving.

For this work, I was inspired by the tūī. I wove around two hue and connected them using a tāniko band. The paru-dyed muka covering the hue represents the dark feathers across most of the bird’s body. The brown and natural tones in the tāniko reflect the feathers near its head, and the fine white muka adornments represent the fine white feathers that wrap around its neck. The way the two hue are positioned also echoes the motion and shape of a bird in flight, adding a sense of movement and life to the work.