Lissy & Rudi Robinson-Cole
Lissy: Ngāti Hineamaru, Ngāti Kahu | Rudi: Waikato, Ngāti Pāoa, Ngāruahine, Te Arawa
LISSY ROBINSON-COLE and RUDI ROBINSON-COLE are a husband-and-wife team whose artworks explore mātauranga Māori and personal whakapapa through crocheted woollen sculpture, and neon lights.
To date the artists’ largest and most ambitious project has been ‘Wharenui Harikoa’ (House of Joy), a full-size crocheted whare whakairo (carved meeting house) created in collaboration with whanau, community and international textile artists.
Lissy describes crochet as “a portal of joy. We see ourselves as a prism in which the aroha of our tūpuna shines through us and is expressed in our own unique ways – like the spectrum of the rainbow. As their aroha radiates through us it is reflected back to us by the light and aroha of our communities. Our practice is grounded in one central kaupapa; to transform intergenerational trauma into deeply felt joy, one loop at a time.”
Te Ara i Whiti
Hiwa-i-te-rangi, 2023
Hiwa-i–te-rangi is a four-sided 6m tall lightbox pou with feathers on two sides, to represent the wishes, and ngutu kaka design on the other two, to show how everyone is connected. The work will include crocheted elements to speak to Lissy & Rudi’s art form, including a crocheted button that is pressed to send wishes up to Hiwa-i–te-rangi.
You can find “Hiwa-i-te-rangi” at Te Ara i whiti from September 29 – October 8, 2023 at Kelvin and Marina Park.
