Tracey-Lea Morgan
Shared Lines: Pūtahitanga exhibiting artist
Susan (2020)
I’m a covert gestural colourist presenting as a detail-obsessed pattern-making glitterist. My previous work was primarily figurative with contemporary Māori design. In May 2020 I decided not to continue this work as I was becoming aware of my own cultural limitations with an increasing awareness of appropriation. Since making this decision it’s been a challenge to find my own “voice”. As a fifth generation Pākeha choosing to no longer use Māori motif as an NZ design icon, how do I create pattern representative of my own ancestry? During the Covid 19 lockdown I struggled with this question and the desire to paint so I researched other art forms. I discovered Asemic writing which is the basis for the intricate design work in my painting practice currently.
Shared Lines: Pūtahitanga 2020
With the non-specificity of asemic writing there comes a vacuum of meaning, which is left for the reader to fill in and interpret. For me, that’s turning the negative space between the pattern into the design element & it’s also filling the void of my own lack of cultural connection into something deeper. The painting invites the viewer to find peace and a sense of order in the completed work, a place of comfort amongst the chaos of things outside of our control.