Exhibition celebrates Wāhine Toa

Māhia artist Rosie Symes with one of her mixed media Wāhine Toa artworks in her exhibition on at the Matawhero Art Gallery at Matawhero Wines in Riverpoint Road. Picture by Liam Clayton

Prepare to be wowed by a new exhibition celebrating women by Māhia artist Rosie Symes which opened at the Matawhero Art Gallery this week.

The theme is Wāhine Toa with large portraits of mainly Māori women depicted in mixed media. Displayed together they make a powerful impact; some are adorned in kahu huruhuru or cloaks made of feathers, others are wearing pāua jewellery which gives the wearer strength.

Symes’ source of inspiration is the Māori women in the community in which she is living and each artwork has its own kaupapa about the woman it portrays. There are also smaller fine art prints available for sale in a variety of sizes.

Since closing the Miharo gallery she owned in Gisborne, Symes relocated to Māhia and now works full time as an artist.

The British-born artist went to art school in the UK where she got a degree in illustration. She has spent a lot of time travelling the world gathering inspiration from her experiences and adventures. She works with a variety of mediums on works inspired by nature, dreams and emotions,with a surrealist twist, finding her muse in divine feminine energy.

The pieces are created with the aim of empowering women to be their authentic selves and speak their truth. There is symbolism in her work. If your wahine is facing up, she is looking for answers from Te Atua; facing down is self-reflection and seeking answers from within. Left-facing means she is looking for answers based on past experiences and right-facing is looking to the future. Forward-facing wāhine are mirroring the viewer to remind them of their inner strength.  Symes has a studio in the old school at Māhia which she opens to the public so they can see her at work and purchase her art at the same time.