Te Putawa - Wha

About Featherworks
I began weaving feathers in 1997 to make a cloak for a character in a film script that I had written. While making the cloak it occurred to me to make feather art works. I put these artworks in the Centre Of Contemporary Art in Christchurch. The works sold immediately, more were commissioned and ‘Featherworks’ took flight. 

I devised my own method of construction to create various sized artworks that are influenced by traditional Mâori raranga weaving yet made with a contemporary approach.
The feathers themselves are a continuous source of ideas and inspiration. They are responsibly sourced and ethically collected; hand plucked, preened, sorted, then woven and stitched into place. Imagination and intuition are combined with ideas developed through researching various themes to produce individual and unique works of art. My aim is to preserve the beauty of the feathers and utilize their aesthetic potential to express concepts that reflect Aotearoa New Zealand, enhance our environment and show respect for Mâori culture and traditions. My ‘Featherworks’ are a celebration of nature and heritage; they provide a new perspective on something that may have otherwise blown away in the wind. 

I title each ‘Featherwork’ to assist me in becoming more familiar with Te Reo Mâori (the Mâori language). With each new work I gain more knowledge and understanding of Te Ao Mâori (The Mâori World). I am a descendant of Sarah Timu (a.k.a. Ti Mokaraka/Sara Timo/Koreke/Te Mo…). Baptized by Bishop Selwyn and married at The Neck, Rakiura/Stewart Island in 1844 to Jacky Lee (a.k.a. Jacka Lee, John Leigh…) (There is a number of landscape features including Lee Bay and a nearby island named after him). They were considered pioneering settlers of the South. My tararere (singular line of descent) travels through one of their off spring – Maraea Lee (a.k.a. Maria), who was interestingly described in her obituary as “one of the first European children born on the Island” as well as being on the Return of Half-Castes to be provided with land under the provisions of ‘The Stewart Island Grants Act 1873’ and ‘The New Zealand Gazette Schedule’ for allocation under ‘The South Island Landless Natives Act’. Mâori ancestral land for our whânau is located in Murihiku/Southland. Maraea was “reputed to have been the first woman to ride a horse on the shore of Lake Wakatipu and the first woman to row a boat on the lake”.* She married the son of an English Commander from Chatham, Kent and is listed in a document titled ‘Census 1891 GI. Report’ held at Te Hikoi Museum in Riverton noting ‘Mother Sara Timo of Ngati Kahungunu’. My heritage includes other aspects of pioneering English and Scottish settlors. 

Exploring our history and expressing it by making art with feathers is a way for me to contribute to the wealth of taonga (art treasures) in and from Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Melanie Richardson