Humble crayon given new perspective

Kereama Taepa's exhibition will be on display at Helium Gallery until May 31. Photo / Stephen Parker

Artist Kereama Taepa, who has exhibited his art nationally and internationally and has works in collections across New Zealand, has an exhibition at local gallery Helium.

Mr Taepa said his exhibition, titled Geo, was about perception and perspective.

He said it set out to offer an alternative to the conventional use of a drawing medium that was itself filled with history.

"Beginning in the shipping yard, the humble crayon was later employed by artists to create their masterpieces. Usually when we think of using crayons we draw with them so I've done something different with them."

He said in Geo the 2Dimensional plane was filled with repeating 3Dimensional forms of different levels, creating digital landscapes of pattern.

"The patterns themselves draw parallels between the Maori practice of tukutuku and contemporary digital imagery ... the old and new geometry together as one. Like a pixilated image, the pattern is hard to decipher.

"It is briefly visible then dissipates ... the pattern is only visible through changing your own perspective."

He said he had been working on the exhibition since February and each piece took a long time because there were close to 900 crayon segments in each one.

"I would encourage people to come down for something different, if you want to be challenged as to how you see things come down and have a look," Mr Taepa said.

He said he wasn't sure what he was going to do next, but that was the beauty of art - not knowing what was just around the corner.

The exhibition will run until May 31.

Mr Taepa's first major commissions included the screens for the new toilets on the Waipa side of Whakarewarewa Forest in 2014, and the shrouds surrounding the Redwoods toilets in Rotorua 2013. He is also an art tutor at the Waiariki Institute of Technology.