Mr G Hoete carving a wooden Boba Fett helmet. Photo / Supplied
Mr G Hoete carving a wooden Boba Fett helmet. Photo / Supplied
When Graham Hoete was five years old, he would draw Star Wars doodles in his maths book.
Now the Māori multi-disciplinary artist is carving for the franchise itself.
Pāpāmoa-based Hoete, whose artist name is Mr G, has just finished carving a wooden Boba Fett helmet. He was approached by Disneyand Lucas Films to carve a taonga in Whakairo style for Star Wars actor Temuera Morrison after a New Zealand Disney representative came across Hoete's Whakairo-style gumboot carving in Auckland.
Boba Fett, a bounty hunter in the fictional Star Wars franchise, is played by Morrison.
As a "legit Star Wars fan", Hoete was so excited to be approached for the job.
Hoete said Morrison had "done an awesome job in representing Aotearoa on the big screen ... I love personally how he's really incorporated our Māori culture, different aspects, into the role of Boba".
Hoete felt a connection to the "mysterious" character of Boba Fett because the actor is also Māori, so Hoete felt it was only fitting to incorporate this into the taonga.
"It's really about honouring him (Morrison) in a fitting way ... come up with a really special idea to create a special taonga for him.
"That's just our superpower as Māori, we just be ourselves. That's the way we shine in this world, we don't need to try and be something we're not."
Not only has Hoete incorporated Star Wars into his past art, but six months ago he told a friend he wanted to make a personal carving of a Boba Fett helmet.
"But then when I got the email I actually told him 'bro, you know how I was saying I wanted to carve a Boba Fett helmet? Well, I actually got an email from Lucas films and Disney to do one".
