Hau

Artist: Christine Te Ruihana Hayes

Title: Hau

Medium: Unglazed white uku

Dimensions: 210h x 145w

Artwork kōrero

When my Uncle Adrian passed, I felt Tāwhirimātea strongly. That experience stayed with me, and when I later made this piece, I found myself returning to that feeling.

I wanted the face to feel as though it were making a breath. As the form developed, the elongated nose began to remind me of a nose flute - of breath moving through the body and becoming sound. The openings and hollow spaces within the sculpture became part of this idea, allowing air to move through a form that is both solid and empty.

The abstracted face explores the external and internal parts of ourselves: what we present to the world, and the thoughts, memories and experiences held within us that cannot always be seen.

I chose the title "Hau" because the word can carry the meanings of both wind and breath. For me, those meanings came together through this work - Tāwhirimātea, my uncle, breath and memory.

Hau is about the presence that can remain even when someone is no longer physically with us - what is no longer visible can still be felt.