Whenua ūkaipō

SOLD

Original painting by Josh Kiwikiwi

Acrylic, mixed media, flashe & 21/24k gold leaf on stretched canvas

760x760mm (framed)

Whenua ūkaipō speaks to belonging and nourishment — the bond between people, land, and spirit. Whenua means both land and placenta, the source that sustains and the ground we return to. Ūkaipō, “to be fed from the breast at night,” deepens this meaning to true home and origin.

At its centre stands a wāhine cloaked in a korowai of five distinct patterns, each thread holding whakapapa, memory, and renewal. Gold-filled seams trace her body like kintsugi, symbolising fracture and healing, the beauty of culture reclaimed and made whole again.

She stands grounded on coastal rock, the land and sea alive with memory. Though the sky above is stormed and shifting, her presence remains luminous, a declaration of survival, identity, and reconnection.

Whenua Ūkaipō is both personal and collective: a returning home, a moment of grounding in whakapapa and whenua that continues to sustain us, even through change.

Available as limited edition prints

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