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Portrait of a Māori woman tattooed on her shoulders wearing a dark blue dress. — After studying at Toihoukura College’s School of Visual Art and Māori Design, artist Fiona Collins advanced her weaving to a professional level and has even displayed her creations on several European exhibitions.

Awakening Creative Energies with Fiona Collins

New Zealand Encounters
Published on 2019-04-23
Revised on 2024-03-24

“I love flax. I love this fibre. I love weaving. It takes so much time that I reach a state of meditation!” exclaims Fiona Collins, her eyes shining. This love story goes back to when Fiona and her sisters lived with their parents on Grandma Madeleine Tangohau’s farm. “In those days, there was little technology, and all work was done by hand,” Fiona explains.

So Fiona learned the basics of practical weaving, the kind that enabled early Māori to meet everyday needs such as baskets for gathering vegetables, hats and even mats for sleeping on. At a seminar in Rotoiti, Fiona learned from her aunt Christina Wirihana an unusual, ancestral technique for weaving more sophisticated artworks.

I was able to admire Fiona’s sumptuous creations at the Tairāwhiti Museum during the group exhibition entitled OHO, the awakening of creative energies.

Learn more: Artist Fiona Collins’s Facebook page

White fibres form a circle around a mussel shell on large, stiff green leaves. — As in the days of the early Māori, Fiona uses a sharp shell to scrape the green skin from the flax leaves, extracting the silky white fibres that she weaves with her skilled hands.

A plastic mannequin wears a kind of Māori cloak woven with a multitude of small white strings. — Today, elevating her art to the weaving of prestigious kākahu, Fiona stands as a guardian of Māori traditions. “I hope my works survive 100 years from now!” she says with a smile.

TERRA TRIBUTA

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Awakening Creative Energies with Fiona Collins

TERRA TRIBUTA