A World War II ethos: Taupō artist Connie Takarangi's upcycling drive

Taupō artist Connie Takarangi with some of her upcycled fashion pieces and one of her paintings. Photo / Laurilee McMichael

Before the age of consumerism, nothing was wasted. People took the opportunity to repurpose almost everything.

And it's that ethos that Taupō artist Connie Takarangi brings to both her art and her fashion, although where art ends and fashion begins, and vice versa, is not always clear.

Connie, who is an upcycle fashion designer and owns Taupō Alterations, upcycles clothing into new pieces and also creates her own wearable artworks.

She visits local op shops two or three times a week in search of new treasures and interesting items and no trip to a new town is ever complete without a rummage through the op shops to see what she can turn up.

Recently she ran a series of workshops at Te Awamutu Museum on creating high fashion looks from recycled materials, alongside the museum's Fashion Fridays exhibition which features clothing from formal occasions from colonial times and Māori pieces up until the 1980s.

Connie's Make Do and Mend workshops show how to reduce, reuse, repurpose and recreate fascinators and hats and brooches and cuffs.

Connie Takarangi preparing for an exhibition. photo / Supplied

The workshops connected to a World War II theme of making do with what you have available, Connie says.

"In this time of great change, people are looking for something unique. Repurposing pre-loved everyday items of clothing is great for our environment and challenges you to be creative with those bits and bobs you may have at home."

In Aotearoa New Zealand it is estimated that 100 million kilograms of textile waste is dumped each year. Looking at textile waste as a potential resource for new fashion items can help stem that tide.

"You don't have to buy something new online that's come from America or China. Look in your mum or your auntie's wardrobe. You can get some exciting and beautiful things without having to buy new."

Connie has always been interested in reinventing things. She learned to sew when she was young and says her family was always into upcycling and reusing. Later when she got involved with dance and drama, those skills in being able to create and reinvent garments came in handy. And in 2017, Connie completed a Bachelor of Creative Technologies degree through Toi Ohomai, specialising in upcycling and costume.

She says part of what she enjoys about it is the history that comes with second-hand pieces.

"With some of the garments I pick up, I think about where it's been and how it's travelled and what parties it's been to."

For her wearable art and upcycled fashion pieces, Connie makes mostly separates and almost all are intended to be sold, although she also makes the occasional piece for herself.

Her last local exhibition was Colour My Autumn at Taupō Museum in 2019 which showed it is possible to create exciting, fun, interesting and different things and promoted the whole ethos of recycle, rethink, reuse and repurpose.

One of Connie's most eye-catching creations pieces is a skirt called Shirt Off His Back made from 90 shirt collars, each sewn on by hand. She entered and won, the Lake Taupō Hospice's Creative Catwalk Competition in 2014.

Connie Takarangi's prize-winning wearable artwork Shirt Off His Back, which used more than 90 shirt collars for the skirt. Photo / Supplied

The shirts mainly came from op shops and Connie also visits garage sales and keeps an eye on Trade Me. She is always on the lookout for items like buttons and jewellery she can use or garments that can be turned into wearable art.

But wearable art and upcycling is only one facet of Connie's work and she says she goes in phases of working with different materials as well as painting and writing poems using words found on pages taken from old books.

During Covid she turned her attention to sculpture, creating a three-dimensional installation called I Contemplate My Situation, a piece about the pressures of lockdown which featured in post-Covid exhibition Isolation Portrait at the Rotorua Arts Village.

Connie Takarangi's sculptural art installation I Contemplate My Situation was a comment on the Covid-19 lockdown. Photo / Supplied

Connie's projects also share a bigger message about pushing back against consumerism and the throwaway society.

"There's a revaluation going on about we should reduce and recycle and reuse but a lot of people find that overwhelming and say 'well, I'm just one person, how can I do all of that?'

"In my workshops I talk about how if just one person does one little change, that becomes part of a bigger pull."