Whanganui artist Isiaha Te Rangatira Barlow's exhibition Fire, Knowledge, and Creation: Māui and Prometheus in Conversation is on at the Sarjeant Gallery until May 3.
One of the welcoming faces on staff at the Davis Library in Whanganui belongs to local artist Isiaha Te Rangatira Barlow (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tahu-Ngāti Whaoa, Ngāti Uenuku), who is gaining a national reputation as a painter.
At Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery, visitors can see a remarkable exhibition of paintings by Barlow in the exhibition Fire, Knowledge, and Creation: Māui and Prometheus in Conversation, which is on display until May 3.
An artist, software engineer, problem-solver and father of three, multi-talented Barlow has worked at the Davis Library for the past 10 years.
The works in Barlow’s exhibition tell stories in richly coloured paintings, striking in the use of gold, silver, red and blue. Haloed beings with pale, elongated bodies and serious expressions enact scenes from the myths of the Māori demigod Māui and the Greek Titan Prometheus. There are universal or archetypal patterns shared by the stories of Māui and Prometheus.
The two hero-tricksters, from very different cultures on opposite sides of the world, both stole fire from their respective gods and gave it to humanity. The acquisition of fire was both a practical step and a powerful symbol that changed human history. Phrases like “burning ambition”, “feeling fired up” and “a spark of creativity” show how we use fire as a metaphor for the motivation that helps us achieve things.
“The underlying story is the same about humanity and the gods – the elders or authority – and the struggle between the two,” Barlow said.
“What connects you to the stories is the pursuit of fire. It’s an amazing technology and they had to deceive their elders or the gods in order to take it and bring the technology back for humanity’s use. That’s what took humans from being essentially cave dwellers to what we are today.”
Māui is a well-known figure in Māori and Polynesian cultures, a clever demigod whose adventures, usually to the benefit of human beings, are full of humour and trickery. The Māori hero’s exploits include fishing up Te Ika A Māui (the North Island) with a magical hook made from his grandmother’s jawbone; stealing fire for humans; and capturing the sun to lengthen the days.
There are various understandings about why Māui set out to steal fire; however, because of his daring, people gained the power to make it.
Māui visited his ancestress Mahuika, the fire goddess who kept flames in her fingernails. One by one, Māui tricked her into giving him her fingernails and toenails of fire, then put their fires out, until Mahuika realised she had been fooled and became furious. In her anger, she threw fire at Māui but he escaped by turning into a kāhu (hawk). Responding to his pleas, Māui’s ancestors sent rain and the flames escaped into trees, such as kaikomako, which is why people can make fire by rubbing wood together.
In Greek mythology Prometheus, a Titan whose name means “forethought”, is said to have fashioned humans from clay. Prometheus stole fire from the gods on Mt Olympus and, hiding it in a fennel stalk, gave fire to humans. As punishment, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock where each day an eagle ate his liver, only for it to grow back again overnight. Prometheus was later freed when Hercules killed the eagle. Both heroes were severely punished.
“Māui ultimately pushed the envelope too far and died. And Prometheus was tortured every day, by having his liver ripped out by an eagle.”
Barlow’s 16 new works span two bays in the Sarjeant Gallery’s heritage building. Set against a rich olive green, they are startling in their colour and scenes, which depict stories about the two heroes.
The paintings incorporate aspects of religious Byzantine and medieval art styles, which he discovered during studies in fine arts at Massey University for a masters degree in Māori Visual Arts. He said he was immediately drawn to a style that he understood and through which he could communicate his ideas more easily than other painting techniques – painting from the Renaissance and Proto-Renaissance period. He also loved the use of gold.
“That style has a history and a tradition in its use of gold. The reason they use gold is to elevate the work and the characters from being a person to a spiritual being.
“Māori art does that in different ways. The traditional way is they imbue the work with a mauri or mana – the mana of the person that they’re carving. Carvings especially have a spiritual component to them and it’s done through the process of carving.
“So I do that with my work by using this Western technology, the halo, to make these things imbued with spirit.”
Barlow gains inspiration from reading, and an idea or image will flash into his head. He goes with that first spark, making a rough sketch then painting it, layer upon layer, to achieve a rich, luminous result. Initially, Barlow used egg to bind the tempera, as is traditional, but now uses an acrylic binder, which is quicker.
As an artist, his wish is to make a picture that is more than a picture, one that connects deeply with viewers.
“That’s always been a fascination of mine – how people react to the works. It’s always been about trying to capture that [special] something. It’s gold to me when I do."
Isiaha Te Rangatira Barlow: Fire, Knowledge, and Creation: Māui & Prometheus in Conversation is on display at Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant gallery until May 3.