Two new limited edition prints from Shane Hansen

Artist Shane Hansen with
one of his sculptures

Pania & The Dragon
Edition of 50 prints

Hansen's two new limited edition prints make a compelling pair.  Both prints are semi-autobiographical, referencing the different strands of Hansen's genealogy, the Maori and the Chinese.  These artworks are about coming to terms with your cultural background, making sense of your ancestry.

Pania is a recurring character in Shane's work, in "Pania and the Dragon" she is depicted feeding a dragon from a bottle.  A poem accompanies the print

Oh bless the little girl who sits and feeds the little dragon
Does she not see the danger?
Look at his large toothy grin, his big greedy eyes
He will drink all her milk if she’s not careful
Why does she smile so?
What does she know that I don’t know?
Oh bless the little girl who sits and feeds the little dragon

Home Sweet Home is nostalgic but not sentimental, Shane says "No matter

Home Sweet Home
Edition of 50 prints

where we come from, what our heritage, we all have a place that is our ancestral home. Our distance, be it physical or emotional, holds no barriers, as all are welcome when the time comes to reconnect. This place, warmed by those who came before and those whom have kept the fires burning, waiting for our return. Home Sweet Home."

Both prints are in editions of fifty screenprints, individually lovely but we also think these look great as a pair of prints on the wall alongside each other.  Superb decoration for children's rooms that will become increasingly meaningful as they grow up alongside them.

Tiki: More than decor - a symbol

We believe there is now emerging a deeper meaning to New Zealanders buying prints of symbols like tiki and koru than just a superficial decor trend.   This article is a call to critically examine a casual dismissal of the extensive use of the tiki motif in particular as just another (temporary) phase of a wider kiwiana trend in NZ art prints that will pass.

More than just a decorative piece a tiki print first and foremost represents an ongoing connection to Aotearoa/New Zealand.  When a tiki is given as a present it's often a deeply meaningful gift that symbolises a connection with NZ and/or the person or people who gift the artwork, in essence a tiki has grown to mean friendship and connectedness with a uniquely NZ slant.

Picasso Tiki by Lester Hall

Tiki are now a symbol that is accessible to - and understood by - nearly all New Zealanders and this recognition extends to people who may have a passing acquaintance with NZ, may live in another country etc but to whom this idea of the tiki's meaning still makes sense.  It's becoming clear to us that for New Zealanders today tiki are not being purchased just to decorate in the supremely superficial manner like the kitch decor of an American tiki bar that is practically divorced from all meaningful connection with its Polynesian origins beyond the historic accident filtered through the decades.

Tiki in pre-colonial Maori culture

Whether as a memorial to the ancestors or associated with fertility and childbirth tiki were undoubted connected with the sacred, the spiritual and a sense of connection to place or people by Maori. Unlike other Polynesian cultures where tiki were predominantly carved wooden objects in Aoteaora the pendant known as the Hei-Tiki is the most well-known expression of the tiki form.

Tiki in NZ Art

Tikis were first re-worked in a fine art context by Dick Frizzell in his response to the debate around cultural appropriation in the 1990s and are now part of our collective cultural identity. The evidence that a tiki is now more than just a decorative motif is also that despite the ongoing popularity of Tiki prints as a genre they simply not becoming stale or boring because the idea of the tiki continues to evolve and deepen as successive artists re-mix, re-invent an re-interpret the tiki shape and form. Whether referencing pop art, Aboriginal art, Picasso (see Lester Hall's latest print above left) and even Dick Frizzell himself in wonderfully circular fashion in "Tiki to Diki" - or used as an anthropomorphic symbol of Maori ancestry in the prints of Shane Hansen such as this one below.

Shane Hansen Print "Boy and Friendy"

As non-Maori New Zealander's are now becoming a distinct culture,  often referred to as Pakeha or even as "white Polynesian" this also means we are becoming more likely to unselfconsciously give the gift of a tiki or a koru (a symbol of renewal or new life) than, for instance, to reach for a religious artwork such as Durer's Praying Hands which would have held a similar sense of shared meaning in an earlier more religious time.

When a friend or work colleague returns to their home country after time spent in New Zealand colleagues and friends send them home with a picture of a tiki,  not just to remind them about their time here, or to celebrate our unique Maori culture - but most importantly as a symbol of the recipient's special connection that they will always have with New Zealand.  We also send tikis to New Zealanders overseas to remind them of their connection to home instead of the more obvious picturesque views of their favourite landmarks.  Mickey to Tiki may be easily the most well-known tiki print, regularly delivered by us as a gift for weddings, birthdays and Christmas for a decade now - but we believe there has been more to its popularity as a gift than it just being chosen because it was a safe choice as NZ's most popular print over this time.   Given the messages included with the print we know there is usually this kind of underlying heartfelt and sincere meaning behind the gift of this most famous of all artworks featuring a tiki.

There is now an ongoing place for tiki as "more than just decoration", it is not just a decor trend because this greater idea of the tiki is now part of the NZ identity.  This deeper wellspring of meaning means artists will continue to find ways to drive the idea of the tiki into new and unexpected directions (so much so we have now even created a permanent tiki prints collection). But just as there is a difference between a plastic tiki and a hand carved tiki we think there is a distinction between a watered down version that verges on cultural appropriation to a sincere reworking of what has become a cultural icon for both Maori and non-Maori New Zealanders.

New Zealand artists & the future of the Tiki

And considering tiki are a Pacific wide icon it is exciting to see that tiki art from NZ are clearly now

Drippy Tiki by Greg Straight

the best tiki artwork available because thanks to artists like Dick Frizzell we have taken an indigenous motif and taken it further to imbue it with even more meaning and resonance when you see it on the wall!  Not taken an indigenous icon out of context (as a decoration for a tiki themed bar for instance) but to be an emblem of our NZness with deeper meanings beyond the visual representation on the wall.

Mickey to Tiki is accessible to non New Zealanders not just because Mickey is so recognisable but also because the tiki is increasingly well known outside of the Pacific.  And New Zealand artists are leading this growth in popular consciousness because they are evolving the tiki from an emblem of an historical culture - without sacrificing its meaning - into a fresh and contemporary form that incorporates and includes while (with a few grating exceptions) still respecting and paying homage to the underlying symbolism of the hei-tiki in Maori culture.

McRangi - is "Maori Art" selling out or promoting Maori culture?

McRangi by Shane Hansen - Edition of 40 prints

Shane Hansen is one of NZ's most widely known contemporary Maori artists. He has accepted commissions from high profile clients such as Maori Television, Air New Zealand and his artwork adorns the New Zealand Tourism head office in Auckland.  He has even followed in the footsteps of Andy Warhol with an art car project for BMW!

But he is uneasy about the popularity of a genre known as "Maori Art" in a way that is in some ways similar to our misgivings about the re-branding of non-Maori New Zealand art as "kiwiana".

Hansen's new print of a Maori Ronald McDonald figure is his expression of this questioning of the balance between commercialisation and celebration of Maori art by artists like himself.

Shane Hansen at work in his Auckland studio

McRangi (pictured above) is a much looser artwork than his usual crisp style based on what Hansen describes as an "old school image of Ronald waving that had a creepy nostalgic feeling about it". In this print McRangi asks in Te Reo "Ko tenei taku titiro kite ao whanui? - "is this how I see the world?".  Hansen is wondering if his artworks are cheapening Maori culture or exposing it and communicating it to others in a good way.

We don't think that Hansen has anything to worry about as his thoughtful and original series of prints push the boundaries of New Zealand art forward, refreshing and re-interpreting as well as adding a completely new style that is completely his own.  But even if there is a less vivid expression of "Maori art" being produced in the gift/souvenir market to meet the current demand that could be seen, as Hansen puts it, to be "cheapening" Maori culture is this anything new?

Shane Hansen - new works at Prints.co.nz

Shane Hansen

Auckland printmaker Shane Hansen has recently completed some new editions which is exciting news for collectors of contemporary NZ original prints.  Artwork from the high profile Maori artist  has been purchased in prestigious private commissions such as Air New Zealand's Koru Lounge at Auckland International Airport and a recent painting was included in the landmark Ngaa Pou Whenua show at Waikato Museum in 2011.  Hansen's new work is building on a solid back catalogue of sold out print editions including his Friendy tiki series (Pania, Boy and Friendy et al on vintage wallpaper) and screenprints on plywood Te Kereru, Kokako & Aroha, Te Kea Aoraki etc.

Shane Hansen - who is of Tainui - Ngati Hine, Ngati Mahunga descent -  says about his new prints "The detail of my mahi [translation from Maori = work, to make], is in its simplicity. Keeping details to a minimum to acheive an image of high impact, depth and meaning is a challenge but I feel the work is stronger because of it. The term less is more is definitely the case with my work and it doesn't mean it is less meaningful."

Waitakere Wairua | 1100 x 550mm | Edition of 35 prints 

Waitakere Wairua [translation from Maori = Spirit, Soul)

Based on an artwork for the ‘Living & Learning Centre’ in Henderson, West Auckland. This print represents the cultures, lifestyle and spirit of the Auckland area and also the people that inhabit it. In this print Shane tells us that "The Kokako is a kaitiaki (Maori = "guardian"), watching over the Waitakeres, helping forge a brighter future for the tamariki (Maori = Children). Looking down from the Waitakere ranges towards Rangitoto, the Kokako feels proud and privileged to be part of it all." Archival giclee print in an edition of 35 signed and numbered by Hansen.

Ataahua Tieke (Gold) | 560 x 750mm | Edition of 35 Prints

Ataahua Tieke (Gold) 

Hansen says that this print was inspired by an encounter he had with the unique NZ saddleback (tieke),"The handsome saddleback greeted me with surprise in his eyes", he told NZ Art Print News, "The bird seemed to be saying 'Who is this who seeks my attention? You have come, so I will go.'" Tieke belong to the Wattlebird family which includes the kokako and the (extinct) huia. In Maori the word Ataahua means beautiful. Ataahua Tieke is available in two colourways, green and gold (the Gold edition is shown here) in editions of 35 prints.

See all prints by Shane Hansen in the Shane Hansen collection at New Zealand Fine Prints, his work also features in the Maori art collection at New Zealand's specialist art print store.