'Maui Ki Mohi' at FhE Galleries

It was Pine Taiapa who taught Darryn George to see the artistic value of his Maori heritage. Raised in Anglican Christchurch, ethnic roots were not something George was interested in exploring.

He was more interested in American colour field painters like Mark Rothko and Richard Diebenkorn, or young British artists like Damien Hirst and Gary Hume.

At that stage, 10 years ago, George hadn't even been to the Bay of Islands to visit the Ngapuhi relatives.

But on a trip to the East Coast, and at the house Te Whitireia beside the beach at Whangara, carved by Taiapa in 1939 and featuring the distinctive tekoteko of Ngati Porou ancestor Paikea riding the whale, it all came together.

"I have always been interested in patterns. Meeting houses have hundreds of patterns all worked in with each other - you never see interior design done this way, it is all minimal these days," says George.

"Even in dress, people say don't wear the striped tie with the striped shirt. But there it is in the house, so full on, so much information.

"Then there is the fact I could sit in this house and an old man would stand up and tell stories from the artworks. I like the fact Maori people are able to express their language and knowledge through art.

"In my own work, I realise people are not interested in what I have to say about personal meanings, but I have little stories that go with my paintings."

George works in a tradition of hard-edged abstract painting, which on the surface would seem to be the most placeless of styles.

But his choice of colour in the latest show at FhE Galleries, the loud red, black and white associated with the traditional museum view of Maori carving, makes them distinctly "Maori". Even the way he textures some of the paint echoes the ridges of carving.

"I'm aware that if I was to add a bit of colour to it, it would not be read as New Zealand, it could come from anywhere.

"I want to make art about our place, our country. I was really inspired by Michael King, the importance he placed on our history and our culture."

While the large paintings feature straight lines, some of the small paintings George calls sketches include patterns drawn from kowhaiwhai or rafter patterns.

He is still working out whether these will become fully fledged paintings. "I usually start with a sketch like this, take a photo and get it into my computer where I can manipulate it digitally," he says.

"I can stretch shapes and try out different colour combinations, then paint direct from the screen when I am happy with the composition. Most of my time I am at school teaching, so when I do a painting I want to be sure it will work. This takes some of the risk out of it."

George says he is "badly colour blind", so has always had an interest in unusual colour combinations. "I am always looking at fashion mags and mail order clothing catalogues with colour codes, stripping out colour combos and paint charts."

Inspired by a high school art teacher, George "scraped into" Canterbury University's Ilam art school. While he rejected the tag for many years, he is now proud to be a Maori artist.

"When I was growing up I was so embarrassed, when we had school functions to raise money, dad would be the first person to leap up and say: 'I'll put on a hangi'.

"After art school, [curator and critic] Jonathan Mane inspired me, then I met people like Shane Cotton and Peter Robinson. I liked the way as Maori people they talked about life and talked about their art.

"I can't speak the language; the cultural protocols I haven't come to grips with yet. I am just kind of easing my way into it."

Exhibition

*What: Maui Ki Mohi (Maui To Moses) by Darryn George
*Where and when: FhE Galleries, 2 Kitchener St, to Apr 22