Te Hōkioi
The sculpture is a dedication to the extinct bird Te Hōkioi. The Te Hōkioi bird was an extremely powerful bird as well as a large hawk, with its resting place on mountain tops. The bird had beautiful red, black and white colouring, with feathers of various colours including green and yellow. The bird was said to be as big as the Moa, rivalling the hawk. The bird is commonly seen and heard of in Māori legends as a spectacular bird of prey that could be beautifully colourful. This piece of artwork is to acknowledge and remember this magnificent bird, and helping to teach the children of the community the past times of our ancestors.
| Location | Roslin Street children's play area |
| Materials | Tōtara, on concrete plinth. |
| Created | 2006 |
| Artist | Kevin Smith |
| Definition of Name | Te Hōkioi - Te Hōkioi was a bird with talons as big as panther's paws. Also known as the Haast's eagle, it became extinct around 500 years ago when humans killed its main prey, the moa. |
| Definition Interpretation | An extinct bird that can be reflected on by youth in conjunction with past culture and ancestral traditions. |
Materials
While Tōtara is found in both the North Island and the South Island, although it is mostly found in the Central North Island region, and in lowland reserves. The Tōtara tree can grow up to two and a half metres in diameter, with older and larger trees becoming hollow. The tree is identified by its dark brown trunk with bark that looks similar to paper strips coming away from the tree. The heartwood of Tōtara can be seen as a common brown reddish colour, the sapwood is a lighter shade of brown. Growth rings are present in the tree and are very distinctive as they are usually evenly spaced. The wood of the tree has a straight grain, which allows it to be easily split, the wood is also very fine and has an even texture that has an attractive finish.
Artist Notes
Kevin Smith is of Italian Pākehā descent and has learned traditional Māori carving while on a Poutama course. This involved participation in carving a new Wharenui for the Peria Marae, Northland.
He also spent time in South Korea carving Totem poles as a protest against the destruction of a 20,000 hectare tidal flat that a New Zealand native bird the 'kuaka' feed at, on their migration to Siberia.
Kevin Smith is a specialist of mixed media sculpture, in particular, stone, bone and found native timbers. He has a passion and political stance towards road safety that extends into motifs used in his current work which has been on exhibition at the Pātaka Gallery Porirua.
