TONOA
Commission
The following artists are open for commissions - click the "enquire now" button and email a message to the artist you are interested in commissioning a work from.
Julie Paama-Pengelly
Julie Paama-Pengelly is a veteran in the revitalisation of tā moko Māori tattooing. Her studio in Mount Maunganui mixes contemporary and traditional designs and cultivates artists from all walks of life.
With expansive teaching experience, her art practice ranges from the use of symbolic imagery to pure abstraction in graphic design, painting, mixed media, and tattooing.
Over time many misconceptions have surfaced about who has the right to wear and practice tā moko. Julie is one of the first women to practice in the male-dominated field. She is a strong voice for Māori women’s rights and continues to break down barriers to give women a place in tā moko and in the arts.
Kereama Taepa
Kereama Taepa is a contemporary Māori artist who creates artwork based on customary Māori artforms with a technological twist. Taepa’s works are informed by customary Māori art forms and conventions yet use digital technologies to explore Te Ao Matihiko and it’s relationship toTe Ao Māori. His work at times remains digital through projections, 3D animations, AR, VR and Online experiences and also manifests physically through digital prints on paper and 3D printed works at various scales. His work also combines multiple technologies within installation experiences. Taepa’s product based work includes 3D printed jewelry and taonga puoro.
Maraea Timutimu
Maraea Timutimu is a multi-disciplinary artist from Tauranga Moana. She’s an art kaiako in Tauranga, and a former student of Queen Victoria Māori Girls Boarding School. Maraea has produced work across a wide range of mediums through paint, sculpture, printmaking and installation. Often coming back to our traditional arts, poi, tukutuku, and raranga.
Maraea was introduced to natural dyes and colour pigments during time as a student of Tina Wirihana at Te Wānanga o Awanuiarangi. In recent times, whenua has become a medium for her to explore connection and whakapapa, as she brings together pigments from Tūhoe, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi te Rangi. It has become a way to document the places to which she belongs.
Alongside using whenua pigments in her individual art practice, Maraea is also engaged in the kaupapa of sharing this knowledge with her wider hapori.