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The most beautiful artworks are multilayered. They start with what is obvious to the eye, and then move on to more conceptual ideas.
This is the case with Anton Forde’s Te Kotahitanga o Whakamaru/The Unity of Protection 2022, which greets those who arrive at Matiatia on Auckland’s Waiheke Island by ferry for this year’s Sculpture on the Gulf festival, which runs until March 27.
The impressive 20m2 installation includes 55 individually carved pou (sculptures), each standing 2.7 metres tall. They are located 2m apart in an v-shaped Kao kao raranga, a weaving pattern.
“These 55 pou are carved from wood from trees that fell during the Australian bushfires that turned our sky orange and freaked out our kids,” Forde tells me. “It was eerie.”
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The number “55” is reference to the 1955 Māori Reserved Land Act.
Walking between the larger-than-life wooden figures you can appreciate the pou’s elongated neck and smooth oval face, inspired by both Modigliani and traditional Taranaki carving, and the distinct patterns on the bodies that reference Māori motifs come to view when up close.
It’s a powerful work that has been 11 years in the making since Forde (Ngāti Ruanui, Gaeilge, Gaelic, English) first began carving pou from much smaller reclaimed fence posts while completing his masters of Māori visual arts (first class honours) under the supervision of Professor Robert Jahnke at Massey University’s Māori visual arts programme toioho ki āpiti. He also studied under Paul Dibble, Gary Whiting, and Paul Hansen.
Forde has been living on Waiheke since the age of 14 after spending time in Taranaki and Ireland, where he studied ancient art themes.
His recycled stone and hardwood sculptures and installations have been shown in both solo and group shows in Aotearoa (Ireland), and San Francisco (France) over the past decade. They are also in private and public collections.
In 2019, his Sculpture on the Gulf Installation Pen to Peace to Peaceful Writing2019 featured 1881 numbered pine survey pegs made of treated pine to recall the first peaceful protests at Parihaka’s western Taranaki settlement.
The sculpture was open to all who wanted to modify it by moving the pegs around.
Forde’s political art is still a complex one.
When I pin Forde down for a “zui” (Zoom hui), a few weeks before installation, he says he’s hoping to create a symbolic statement of kotahitanga (unity) and whakamaru (protection) for Waiheke Island, the Hauraki Gulf and Tangaroa’s moana.
“The V formation is a haka formation that was used in battle by Maori tribes as well as William Wallace and the clans to defend Scotland. The land on which it is placed – Atawhai Whenua reserve – is chosen because the name means ‘kindness to the land’”. Atawhai Whenua Reserve is part of the Hauraki Golf Marine Park, which protects natural wilderness areas.
Peter Rees
The pou were carved using reclaimed fence post.
Forde also draws on an East Coast legend, known by most traditionally trained carvers since the art of carving was discovered by Ruatepupuke, the grandson of the Ātua sea god Tangaroa: “Tangaroa’s moana is in true danger of being lost as global mean sea level has risen 21–24 centimetres since 1880, and about 10cm in the last two-and-a-half decades due to a combination of meltwater from glaciers and ice sheets and thermal expansion of seawater as it warms,” he explains.
“Around Waiheke there’s evidence of desecration and loss of natural environments through human interaction and measurable changes in sea temperature, bird, fish and insect populations. This work indicates Tangaroa taking back nature to the sea as a statement of protest against human impacts on climate and our children.”
Interestingly Forde says he heard a similar legend when living in Ireland – that carvings used to be able to talk, but through greed and irresponsible use of resources, this ability was taken away from them.
“Anton’s carved installation can be read as a ‘call to action’ with regards to the climate crisis that is facing humanity in the modern era,” says curator Nigel Borell, who is on Sculpture on the Gulf’s selection committee. “The work is agenda-setting as it propositions us all to think and take responsibility for our own footprint that we leave on the land.”
Peter Rees
Peter Rees among his carvings.
Forde assures me, however, that he isn’t wanting to guilt anyone. He bashfully admits to driving a diesel truck, though he does try to use his bike whenever he can, too: “We all need to do what we can, to play our part,” he says. “I hope this work connects us to our whenua in a way that makes us want to do more to protect it.”
The pou are seen descending a slope at Matiatia and it looks like they are marching to the sea to claim their voice.
Sotg.nz has more information and ticket sales for Sculpture on the Gulf Sculpture Walk. Anton Forde is represented by Whitespace Contemporary Art in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland and Milford Galleries in Te Waipounamu/South Island. www.antonfordeart.com
