Tanya Ruka: Te Kore / Te Ao (the Intrinsic Light within Nothingness)
15 April, 2014 - 8 June, 2014
Photography Gallery
Te Kore / Te Ao (the Intrinsic Light within Nothingness) is a progression of Tanya Ruka's doctoral thesis investigation into landscape and the cultural grid overlay that occurs when mindscape narrates landscape.
Ruka's approach is from a Māori perspective, taking into account Whakapapa (genealogy), Kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and Wairuatanga (spirituality).
During her research Ruka became interested in the ideas of potential and becoming. Māori cosmology sees Te Kore, in the genealogy of time as the state before sound and Te Ao the world of light that followed. Te Kore is literally translated as 'the nothing', however it is thought to contain the energy of potential within the transitional state of becoming. This in between state of liminal space is where Ruka finds her inspiration.
Using land videography and photography Ruka digitally weaves images together to create installations that are meditative experiences of light.
My hope is to capture the essence of the landscape that connects intrinsically and intuitively. I am currently working on the ideas of toroidal energy patterns that occur within nature, a potential means of free energy. A toroid is a doughnut shaped form that radiates out and back into itself. Made up of pyramids and circles, when flattened into a two dimensional object it becomes a grid structure.
I use contemporary tools in conjunction with traditional forms of patterning such as the repetition and mirroring found in Māori weaving and carving. The koru (spiral) is known within my tribe to represent the universe as it emanates from the beginning of time, to the present and out into the future.
The work documents time in the form of the koru. The knowledge of our Tūpuna (ancestors) gives access to the past, present and future this is represented by the continual looping of the video and sound work. Te Aho Tapu is the sacred thread that links all things. This is the knowledge that is woven into tukutuku panels in marae (communal meeting places), korowai (cloaks), harakeke (flax weaving) and whakairo (carving).
Each work in this exhibition represents a story of an important place and time that occurred in my family's history. The sound component is traditional Māori chants or mōteatea utilising poetry and melodies sung in a limited range. They represent Te Aho Tapu, the thread that binds us all. By digitally documenting and weaving video I am continuing Māori traditions of memorialising the stories within our time.
Tanya Ruka 2014
About the Artist:
Tanya Ruka is a Māori visual artist with a diverse practice that utilises the mediums of video and sound installation, photography, film, painting and drawing. She is inspired by Māori mythologies and cosmologies. Ruka holds a Diploma in Visual Arts and a Bachelor of Visual Art from Auckland University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Art and Design and Master of Arts and Design from AUT University in Auckland. Her video installations have been exhibited at festivals around the world including the opening film for the 5th International Indigenous Film Festival in Kathmandu Nepal. She is currently a Fine Art doctoral candidate at Te Pūtahi-a-Toi, the School of Māori Art, Knowledge and Education through Massey University in New Zealand.