Colleen Waata Urlich was one of the founding members of Ngā Kaihanga Uku, the Māori Clay Artists collective and was affectionately known as the “matriarch of the muddies”. Her work often celebrated mana wāhine and the female form, and as well as objects for exhibition she also produced unfired vessels in which to bury the placenta after a birth. Urlich worked with blended clays from Te Waipounamu South Island and her papa kāika in Te Tai Tokerau Northland. She said that using earth gathered from her tūrakawaewae was an essential element of her work, “connecting me and the ultimate creation I have made, back to where I come from, back to the whenua”. The surface patterns on Paikea Pot show the influence of her research into Lapita pottery, and the visual relationships across the Pacific that are evident in weaving, carving, painting and now ceramic arts in Aotearoa New Zealand.

mana wāhine ~ the inherent strength, power, and authority possessed and exercised by Māori women

papa kāika ~ original home, home base

tūrakawaewae ~ place where one has rights of residence and belonging through kinship and ancestry

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