Tāwhirowhiro is the Māori term meaning “spin” or “rotate”. It captures the motion associated with a spinning top which forms the basis of the sculpture installation of a carved and carbon-charred wooden top on a polished stainless steel platform. Ironically the top remains motionless, apart from the inherent rhythmic curvilinear whorls of kōwhaiwhai and clouds reflected in the mirror surface of the circular platform.
Joshua Campbell is completing a Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts degree at Te Toi o Rehua, the School of Art in Palmerston North. He is a practising tā moko artist with an innate design sensibility for kōwhaiwhai. He is working with Robert Jahnke on a number of commissions.
Robert Jahnke teaches and supervises in the undergraduate and postgraduate Māori Visual Arts programmes at Te Toi o Rehua, the School of Art in Palmerston North. His commission work includes the Ranginui door for Rongomaraeroa marae at Te Papa, the entranceway for Sky City Casino, the Woodward Street sculpture for the Wellington Sculpture Trust, Twin Hulls for Auckland University’s Tamaki campus and the entranceway for Mana Tamariki in Palmerston North. He is currently working on a commission for the Palmerston North Public Sculpture Trust.
