Baye Riddell is a founding member of Ngā Kaihanga Uku – the Māori Clay Artists collective. He doesn’t use glazes in his ceramics, instead enhancing the clay with carved, painted or incised surfaces as a way of honouring the original material. The artist has whakapapa to Tokomaru Bay, where he also lives, and often uses clay collected from whānau land in Te Puia Springs. He says, “When I do that, I really feel connected to my tīpuna, because they’re providing me with a gift to work with.”

hui ~ gathering, meeting

whenua ~ land, earth

uku ~ clay

whakapapa ~ genealogy, lineage, ancestry

whānau ~ family, extended family, family group

tīpuna ~ ancestors

He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)