Kia Ora: Māori Language Week 11-17 September 2017

Glimpsed through the stained glass window on a sunny afternoon, the play of light is dramatic and fitting.

The artwork, which represents the moment when the sky and earth were separated in Māori mythology, was gifted by James to the city in 2016.

James Bellaney is of Ngai Tahu and Ngati Porou descent. He was born in Hastings, and has lived in Dunedin since 1989. He studied at Dunedin School of Art, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2011.  

Describing the painting, Rōpata Pāora, Geographical Manager, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa ki Otepoti said:

"I am of a firm belief that Creative art pieces go a long way to instilling a real and tangible sense of Mauri (Life Force) into any city scape, which adds a sense of vitality to an environment that can be desolate and cold. James' piece offers a porthole, if you will, that allow people to transcend the confines of concrete, brick and mortar".

Art Statement for Te Kore painting outside Dunedin library by James Bellaney

The work consists of 6 huge panels, kinetic and in over height format which allows the viewer to be submerged in the work whilst being able to use their peripheral. The viewer can scan the painting at multiple angles while moving around the painting allowing the viewer to submerge themselves in the art. The viewer becomes part of the landscape. 

E ono ngā wāhanga matua kei te mahi nei, he mea hanganga, kia taupungatia te tangata, kia kite hoki ia i te whānuiranga o te mahi mā ōna mōwaho e rua. Ka taea e tangata te pikitia te mātai i ngā taha katoa i a ia e āmio ana i te pikitia ā, ka āhei hoki te taupunga i a ia anō. Nā, ka toihia hoki te tangata. 

“To paint a small picture is to see yourself outside the experience, however if you paint the larger picture, you are in it” (Mark Rothko)
“Kia peitahia tētahi wāhi pikitia, ka kitea koe i waho e koe anō . Hēoi, ki te peitatia tōna whānuitanga, kua toihia koe”

Gestural colours in expressionist manner flow through this scape painting. The painting is a massive explosion of destruction and creation, influenced from Maori cosmology, human condition and the Otago landscape. The possibilities of creation from the lava-ish explosions happening around the painting while the oceanic forms roll in and smashes in the foreground giving rise to creation and erosion of land.
He tae rere noa i te roanga ake o tēnei ata taiao mehe wai. Ko te pāhūtanga nō te tīmatatanga o te ao tēnei pikitia, he mea whakaaro hoki nō te mātai tuarangi, ira tangata, hōranga hoki nō te whenua i Ōtākou. E hia kē ngā āheinga e ahu ake ana i ngā pahūtanga o te tahepuia hurinoa nei i te pikitia nei i te au moana nei e pari mai nei, e tuki atu rā, ko tōna ukuinga he moko tā, he mea whakairoiro whenua hoki.

In this massive expanse, I want the viewer to feel something. The area of this painting is a landscape of the soul, inspired by the Otago landscape as I spent a lot of time surfing in the Catlin’s. Which is home to some heavy surf breaks and heavier weather, Storms come one minute followed by calm blues skies echoed by a blistering sun along rocky coastlines creating idyllic surf conditions. It is not foreign that art is created from the environment that one lives. So, to give this painting a home next to the Dunedin library seem fitting, as books become ways of opening new experiences, so too is this painting.
Kei te whānuitanga o te korenga nei, ko tāku e hiahia ai, kia pāngia te tangata. He mea whakaāhua tēnei wahanga o te pikitia i te (manawa ō whenua) o te tangata, e whakaāhua ana hoki i ngā āhuaranga o te whenua i Ōtago hoki i a au e eke ngāru ana i te Catlins, ā ko te kainga hoki ia o ngā ngaru kai papa eke ngaru, he mūmū, he āwhā i tētahi mēneti, katahi kua hora te marino ā Kahurangi ā nāwai rā, ko te rā pakapaka hoki e paki ana i ngā paringa tai e papai ana mō ngā toa eke ngaru. Ehara i te mea tauhou ēnei “toinga” nō te ao o te tangata nōna taua kainga. Nā reira, e tika ana hoki kia tū tangatawhenua tonu tēnei pikitia ki te taha tonu o te Whare pukapuka o Ōtepoti nei, nā te mea, he tūmomo matapihi anō tonu ngā pukapuka ki ngā whēako hou, ā koinānō hoki te tīkanga o tēnei pikitia.

The work is titled ‘TE KORE’ translated from Maori means, ‘the void, the potential of being’. I use this cosmological name as a metaphor for the ‘being present’ when nothing exists. If you think along the lines of mindfulness and being present, the true self ‘Is’ when the mind is still, henceforth, from nothing comes everything, from destruction comes creation, from emptiness possibilities arise. Though this painting may not seem to be a void with its expressionistic manner, it holds both the idea of destruction and creation, thus it is caught in the middle, being the void. The perspective is on the viewer if one is willing.
Ko te ingoa o tēnei pikitia ‘Ko Te Kore’ ko tōna whakawhitinga nō Te Reo Māori ko ‘The Void’ ko te Korekore. He mea whakamahi hoki nāku mō ‘Te Tū’ i te wā o Te Kore!. Pēnā e wātea katoa ana tō hinengaro i ngā mea katoa atu i te wā e tū nei, “He Ihomatua mākohakoha, He Ata Pū nā te tangata” nā reira nā Te Kore, Te Ao Mārama, nā te Korenga te Orokotīmatatanga, nā korā ko ngā āheinga mutunga kore. He āhuaranga kē atu anō tō te pikitia nei, e rerekē ana ī te kerekeretanga nō te Kore, kei a ia tonu aua tīkanga e rua, arā nō te āneatanga, orokotanga hoki, nā kua tokona kē ia ki waenga ki te wahanga e kīa nei Ko Te Kore. Kei te tangata te tirohanga pēnā e noho tūwhera ana ōna whakaaro. 

“To me art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those willing to take the risks” (Mark Rothko).
“Ki a au nei nā, He manawa kai tūtae tēnei haerenga Toi ki tētahi ao kāore e mōhiotia ana, e taea noatia ana e ngā hunga mataku kore, maia anō hoki.