Meet the Artist

Kia Ora, my name is Tuhina Hamuera.

I grew up in the Waikato region of the North Island in New Zealand. I went to school in a small country town called Matamata and lived there until I was 19 years old. Like many New Zealanders, from a young age I grew up around the arts, culture and music but I always had a feeling that there was something more, something bigger. I needed to find out who I really was, and what role I was about to play in this world..

I had an urge to travel, and to experience the world. To experience the full spectrum of colours and cultures the world has to offer. So, in September 2007, I packed up my belongings and made the short journey to Perth in Western Australia to live with one of my older siblings. For the next 10 years, Perth was my base but also my gateway to the rest of the world.

Over this time I traveled to many different countries. Throughout the Pacific, Asia, Europe and in 2010 I was even lucky enough to travel the greater eastern coast of Africa. From South Africa to Kenya.

As I travelled, I experienced some of the most beautiful environments, cultures & art the planet has to offer. What touched me the most was the selflessness of the majority of people that I met. Whether that was the local family I met on the edge of the Zambezi in Zambia when our drinking water was stolen by two Hyenas or the old man sitting on the bucket in Turkey with a game of checkers splayed out in front of him, waiting for a stranger like me to come along and have a game.

In 2015, I was living in Indonesia running a local business on one of the small tropical islands to the east of Bali. Each day was full of smiles and waves from both locals and tourists as they rode down the main street on push bikes or horses. At that time I felt mostly content but knew this wasn't my calling. Something else stirred inside.

On January 20th 2017, my son, Tainui Hamuera was born and with him I discovered my true purpose. To learn, to teach and to create. To teach my son the tools required to live a happy and fulfilling life. So there was no better place to start than to dive into our whakapapa (lineage) & culture on the shores of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Growing up, I remember my mother always doing some form of art or craft. She would even come to school on Fridays and hold workshops for the students. From Christmas decorations, to stained glass or silk painting. No matter the art, she has sat there until late at night making something for someone. So I must thank her, as she is the one who has continuously bought art and craft into our lives.

Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to work in a few different mediums. One being Pounamu (Jade) and the other being Hot Cast Bronze.

I discovered the art of carving Pounamu when travelling around New Zealand a few years ago and instantly felt a sense of belonging that I felt had been missing all my life, so I naturally bought some carving gear and have been carving ever since. The greatest gift through this process has been when friends and family have been able to come around home and give it a go for themselves. To carve their own piece or make a gift for someone special.

In 2018, I was visiting some family based in Brisbane, Australia. My uncle, a bronze foundry owner had seen some of my carvings and suggested I should give sculpting clay a go and then eventually cast the sculpture into bronze. And so I did!

Keeping within my carving style, and wanting to still have that connection to home, I started sculpting traditional and contemporary Maori art in clay and then into bronze.

In early 2020, I was given the opportunity to shift to Queensland for a year or two to start an internship in the bronze sculpting process at my uncles foundry, Chalkos Fine Arts Foundry.

So here I am, still learning, still teaching and still creating…