Obituary: artist whose colour palette and politics made her name
Robyn Kahukiwa was an intensely private woman who always claimed that her art spoke for her.
The Australian-born painter, then Robyn Fletcher Crenshaw, moved to New Zealand as a 19-year-old in 1957, having trained as a commercial artist.
An early inspiration for Kahukiwa's own art came from discovering her Māori heritage (Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Konohi, and Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare) on her mother's side.
Art was not a career option at that time in New Zealand and Kahukiwa worked as a highly-respected secondary school teacher at Mana College as a day job, while also raising a family with husband Dooley Kahukiwa, whom she married in 1965.
The feelings she needed to express found their wellspring through painting and Kahukiwa soon gained a following in her home base of Wellington.
Influenced by the likes of Frida Kahlo and Colin McCahon, her works stood out in the annual Academy of Fine Arts exhibitions in which she took part for most of the 1970s.
Her first solo show was held in 1971, at Wellington's Red Cottage Gallery.
As her work matured, Kahukiwa explored themes such as motherhood, womanhood, Māori identity and sovereignty.
She was unafraid to mix bold political statement with mundane settings, many paintings were inspired by the Porirua streets where she lived.
Environmental themes often cropped up and as her knowledge of her heritage deepened Kahukiwa would also draw upon Māori mythology and spirituality.
In the early 1980s, thanks to a grant, Kahukiwa was able to become a full-time artist, supplementing what she earned from sales with prolific and acclaimed work as an illustrator and writer of children's books.
Noted collaborators included Patricia Grace and Joy Cowley.
In 1983 her big break came, the "Wāhine Toa" exhibition.
Its images of strong Māori women electrified audiences, it toured the country for two years.
Kahukiwa was in demand, and her works were snapped up by private collectors and public galleries alike.
She became one of the most widely represented artists in New Zealand's public art collections.
Her work also attracted international attention, and Kahukiwa participated in group exhibitions and workshops in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and in 2023 had work exhibited at the Sharjah Biennial.
Ever the teacher, Kahukiwa became a valued mentor and an inspiration for generations of young artists, Māori and non-Māori alike.
Her influence and impact on New Zealand art was recognised in 2020 when Kahukiwa was awarded Te Tohu Aroha mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the Exemplary/Supreme Award at the Te Waka Toi Awards.
One of Kahukiwa's last major shows was in 2024, at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery.
The gallery wrote, "Robyn Kahukiwa's artworks have made a difference to Māori".
"They have provided not only beauty and strength but inroads into our mātauranga, and the multi-layered, inter-generational and ever-evolving stories that are part of our cultural landscape."
Robyn Kahukiwa died on April 11, aged 86. — APL
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