Māori flute making

There's something beautiful about the synchronicity of Richard Nunns delivering his presentation of Māori wind instruments the night before Tim Wraight runs a Māori flute making workshop from his Marahau studio. The two artists have much in common, not least the privilege of being granted access to a traditional Māori art form.

Zopfi, (2009), Oak wood, 3000x500x600mm, 2500x500x450mm, Unterspitzibuehl, Goldau, Kanton Schwyz, Switzerland

Tim Wraight is a New Zealand artist specialising in wood sculpture. His training in the art of wood carving has included eight years working with traditional Māori woodcarver John Mutu, at Te Awhina Marae in Motueka. That period spent fully immersed in the culture and context which surrounds the artform, has influenced and informed Tim's work right across the different areas of his practice.

Tim produces works that fall into roughly three categories; Whakairo (traditional and contemporary Māori wood sculpture); contemporary works which express his and his clients' perspectives; and works which occupy a space in between.

Artefact #1, (2004), Totara wood & natural fibre, 400x300mm

He has completed a number of significant public and privately commissioned works in his career to date, including works in four of the region's marae, public buildings and spaces in New Zealand and the USA, and for private collections in New Zealand, Switzerland and the UK.

Tim's large scale works have been exhibited at some of New Zealand's major outdoor sculpture exhibitions including Sculpture on the Peninsula (Christchurch), Sculpture Onshore (Auckland), Shapeshifter at the New Dowse Art Museum (Wellington).

Artefact #1, (2004), Totara wood & natural fibre, 400x300mm

For the Winter Workshops, Tim will run a workshop on how to make a Māori flute, or kōauau, out of bone or bamboo. The workshop will be held in Tim's studio overlooking the Otuwhero estuary at Sandy Bay near Marahau.

Artefact #2,  (2006), Totara wood & stainless steel, 540 x 420mm

You can find out more about Tim by visiting his website.