Blue Manaia Canoe

on perspex stand - Shona Firman

Double Fired a glass exhibition
Tangaroas and Manaias - ‘Tomorrow's Artefacts’

"It’s great when you have finished the work but the exciting part is the journey. These are tomorrow's artefacts even if they are just in pieces".

My interest in vessels and water started in early childhood. I can remember removing the bark from our tree tomato tree to make a canoe. Since then I’ve lived on a yacht, sailed the Pacific and researched the seafaring culture of the South Pacific. My sculptures reflect the histories of distant cultures united by their relationship with the ocean. They pay homage to my Celtic heritage and the culture of my homeland, New Zealand. They convey the idea of migration, narrative, and transportation of cultural beliefs and traditions. These sculptures allude to the importance of the sea in the practical and spiritual life of these cultures.

Glass, with its colour, transparency and reflection is an ideal medium to express the essence of water and the spiritual nature of these vessels.
The lost wax casting process allows time to contemplate the development of the form and to push the technical boundaries. The tattooed patterns are individually carved into the wax to tell a story.

Canoe
A spiritual vessel.
A journey we all embark on.
The journey through life, from beginning to end, into the realm of the spiritual.

Symbolic and ceremonial.
Upright to resemble a tombstone or standing stone.
Showing the erosion of time, the marks of the journey.

The shape is universal.
Its links with New Zealand strong.
A reflection of our affinity with water and of our culture.

The ‘Waka’ is a symbol of the womb.
The birth of a people, a nation.
It was the vessel that transported the Māori from Hawaiiki to New Zealand.

The canoe was so great it required cooperation from all to man it.
It is the symbol of the people, to think with one mind to be as one.

Dimen sions:

Canoe - Length 550mm x Width 110mm x Height 210mm