The Contemporary Maori Inspired Pattern Work of Mitch Manuel

Today, something a little different. I have decided to highlight some contemporary innovative expansion of the traditional Maori pattern work from New Zealand/Aotearoa. It is the work of Mitch Manuel and is based on both the Koru, the symbolic curl representing the fern, as well as the Kowhaiwhai. Some of you may remember I produced an article about Kowhaiwhai a while ago, the article can be found here.

Mitch Manuel takes the Maori decorative traditions, deconstructs them, and then reconstructs them again, producing a completely new pattern range, with seemingly infinite possibilities of the decorative formula. This is probably the best of decoration, taking tradition, understanding its formula and importance, and then reinterpreting it not only for the individual creative concerned, but for a new generation of consumers. 

Decoration should always be seen as part of the contemporary world and not one only limited to the often locked world of past traditions. That we build upon the creative pathways of our ancestors should be a given fact, but we must also add our own unique footsteps to that journey. If we only pass down the traditions of the past, without adding any new innovations and creative reimaginings, then we become invisible and non-participants in the ongoing exploration of human decoration. Mitch Manuel is clearly part of that process, a process in which decoration is, and should be seen, as being as vital to the human condition as singing and storytelling, with as long a history and as long a potential future.

The following excerpt by Mitch Manuel explains in his own words some of the leading ideas behind his own personal interpretation of the Koru and Kowhaiwhai, as well as a wealth of inter-cultural influence and creative inspiration.

SACRED GEOMETRY

From nature, our Ancestors found sacred geometry in the most fundamental of patterns. Like the fern frond, the Koru in which it takes its shape, is an expression of life. It is also an expression of Sacred Geometry. That is, mathematical proportions throughout nature which Maori have been developing for hundreds of years.

The fern frond is the symbolic metaphysical principle, which shows our relationship to the whole. It is this totality that which is subversive in geometry, a reminder of our connectivity to nature, to each other and the whole, and is the foundation of all things in the Universe.

FIBONACCI

Koru has an innate relationship to one common mathematical belief. Introduced from the East to the Europeans in the thirteenth century and is recounted in the Fibonacci and Phi or what the Greeks called the Golden Mean ratio. The ratio being (1: 1.618). This is the basis for perfect geometry by dividing any of the Fibonacci numbers by the next previous number.

This ratio is the so-called Fibonacci series where each number is the sum of the preceding number: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89,144, 233, 377 and so on. The ratio of two successive numbers equals the Golden Mean. This creates a never-ending spiral from its core or its original point. From this point are a myriad of variations but the higher the sequence the closer are the two numbers to the Golden Mean. 

Putting the mathematical equations aside, how does the basis of Fibonacci visually link to the Koru again? If you were to connect the bottom right corner of a golden rectangle and link up to each successive number sequence from each bottom corner you would create a Fibonacci Spiral. The Spiral and Koru are one and the same.

Leonardo Pisano or nicknamed Fibonacci lived from 1170 to 1240 AD and introduced these ancient principals to the West. He was considered 'the most talented mathematician in the middle ages'. In modern times Fibonacci has been used in film, art, literature, stock markets, music, knitting, mitosis, basket weaving and of course, nature. The list goes on and on. 

FIBORU

Fiboru (pronounced fe-bow-roo) are Koru and kowhaiwhai patterns, which are based on the link between Fibonacci and Koru - Fiboru.

Designed using Adobe Illustrator 6, you will find little resemblance to traditional Kowhaiwhai patterns and instead you will see an often repetitive kaleidoscope simulation. I've taken the traditional patterns of kowhaiwhai and removed a variety of shapes and patterned new shapes to create a myriad of images weaving positive and negative spaces.

I don't believe for an instant that I have miraculously discovered a new link to the beginning of time or a divine principle in which to gage divine art and linked this to Koru, instead I have embraced a conceptual artistic geometric construct that will help me seek a divine method to my illustrations. 

Ultimately, my goal is to continue to experiment and strive for shapes and patterns that hopefully illicit in the viewer a reaction, an emotion, a memory, and especially to think about and discuss the relevance and importance of a legacy, which our Tupuna have created and nurtured which continues to inspire those in the 21st Century. 

Our Tupuna have always known this ancient link. Instinctively the Artist have always known this Golden Mean.

Ka mau te wehi.

Mitchell Manuel.

The work of Mitch Manuel can be found on a number of sites online including Toi Maori Aotearoa/Maori Arts New Zealand, Coroflot and Krop - Creative Database. Please be aware that the illustrations shown in this article, plus all those to be found on the links above are the creative property of Mitch Manuel and that they are therefore fully copyrighted.

The Enduring Antarctic Adventure of Clare Plug

 Illustration: Clare Plug. Ice Crack 2, 2008.

The New Zealand textile artist Clare Plug has spent the last few years of her career developing a fascinating body of work that entails intimately observed details along with wider conceptions and observations of the most rarely visited of all the planets continents.

In 2006 Plug was lucky enough to visit the continent of Antarctica as part of a fellowship, staying with the official government Antarctica NZ at Scott Base in the vicinity of the Ross Ice Shelf. It is no small exaggeration to say that this experience fundamentally changed her views and the entire aspect of her work, so much so that much of the textile art work that she produces to this day is haunted by this most spectacular and hauntingly beautiful continent.

Illustration: Clare Plug. Ice Crack 2 (detail), 2008.

The three works shown here are examples of Plug's Antarctica Series which explores a number of aspects of the continent from the fragile and relatively recent human experience, to the much older and grander sweep of geological and climatic history that has become so pressingly relevant in our own contemporary world.

Through discharge dyeing, applique and quilting techniques, Plug has been able to not only detail her own experiences along with those of others past and present, but perhaps more importantly to focus our attention on the emotional ambience of the landscape and the sense of harsh beauty that it entails. Through her sensitive use of textural colour and stitching, the artist can help us to identify the strange combination of a climate that is so harsh that it can kill most life forms, while at the same time being supremely fragile, delicate and sensitive and so easily prone to destruction by outside forces.

Illustration: Clare Plug. Midnight at the Barne Glacier, 2008.

These moody and sometimes even ethereal textile pieces are in many regards emotionally observed landscapes. Admittedly, they can only give us an indication as to the multiple experiences that would be observed on the continent itself. However, Plugs work has such a defined ambient compositional quality to it that although most of us will probably never visit the continent itself, we can at least share some of the wonder and sheer magnetism of this most intriguing and other-worldly part of the planet.

Through her landscapes, both climatically and geographically based, humans seem to make only the barest and most tenuous of impressions. No more obvious an example of this underlying feeling is Out on the Barrier which seems to give a hint of a hauntingly indistinct portrayal of a possible human symbol, or not. To show our lack of domination of one continent out of seven, everything in Antarctica seems transient, misleading, even misdirected seeming at times to be playing tricks on our senses and our preconceptions. The physical and emotional scale of the experience seems well beyond the human scale in which to focus, catalogue and identify. This often featureless and unimaginably empty continent challenges us to imagine a world where the human species cannot automatically deem themselves dominant, and for our own sanity that feeling of inadequacy mixed with awe, can only be for the betterment of us all.

Illustration: Clare Plug. Out on the Barrier, 2008.

A wide range of Plug's textile art pieces were part of the Look South exhibition held at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch New Zealand. This exhibition was due to continue until the end of September. However, due to the major earthquake experienced by South Island, the exhibition has had to disappointingly close early, though I am sure Plugs hauntingly beautiful textile work will be seen at many more venues in the near future.

Clare Plug has a web presence where much more of her work can be seen. She has exhibited in New Zealand, the US and Europe as well as being featured in a number of publications. Another interesting site listed is that of Antarctica NZ which gives details of New Zealand's official work in Antarctica as well as information on Scott Base where Plug stayed in 2006. On the site there is a webcam of the base which updates every 15 minutes. Both sites can be found in the Reference links section below.

Illustration: Clare Plug. Out on the Barrier (detail), 2008.

All images were used with the kind persmission of the artist.

Reference links:
Clare Plug website
Antarctica New Zealand