Ko te tuatahi

Dimensions: 62x92cm Materials: Oil, Bitumen on Canvas This work is a visual narrative that incorporates Maori treaty text and motif on canvas. The work encapsulates a part of New Zealand's founding document-Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is intended as a reminder of the foundation upon which fairness, equality and the protection of rights for people of New Zealand are guaranteed. Symbolic references include (whakairo and re-form), tukutuku (knowledge) roots (foundations of the treaty) maggot trails (asserting Maori customary title to the foreshore and seabed). Framed within a blackboard composition of ruled teacher lines and student lines directly underneath, it references our need to educate ourselves so that we can assert our rights in government.