BIOGRAPHY
Te Rongo is of Māori (Wai o Hua, Ngai Tai ki Tamaki, Te Kauwerau a Maki, Ngapuhi, Taranaki) English and Scottish ancestry.
Te Rongo is a mixed media artist who specialises in kiln formed, cold worked glass. Her work draws on her Scottish, English and Maori heritage while exploring ideas grounded in history, science and mythology.
She incorporates a Māori worldview in her work that anchors tupuna (ancestors), whakapapa (existential links between all things) & wairua (life force) and the relationship between the past, present and future.
Her work is known for its precise and exacting nature, combining inspiration drawn from customary Māori art practices with contemporary materials and glass techniques.
She strives to create art experiences and enduring works of special meaning that connect people and places through a unique combination of contemporary interpretations of New Zealand artistic and cultural heritage.
Te Rongo has exhibited in galleries and exhibitions around the world including Vancouver, San Francisco, and Canberra as well as in multiple exhibitions in her home country of New Zealand.
For commissions, please contact Te Rongo here.
Represented by Milford Galleries Dunedin New Zealand.
2022
TG Transitions in Glass Bullseye Glass Awards, Pittsburgh Glass Centre.
Solo Exhibition, NZ Glassworks Whanganui.
North Lands Creative, Collect Art Fair, London.
Sculpture on the Gulf, Waiheke Island.
2021
TG Transitions in Glass, Bullseye Glass Awards, Bellevue Museum, Portland, Oregon.
Architectural Award – 2nd Place, Design Award 1st Place.
Glass, Meet the future, North Lands Creative, Toyama. Institute of glass art, the museum of arts & design New York.
2020
Toi tu toi ora, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland.
Studio A, Milford Galleries Queenstown.
2019
Solo Show Hiwa I Te Rangi. Te Rongo Gallery, Auckland.
2018
Solo Show Whanau Marama, Milford Galleries, Dunedin.
Whitu, Group show, Masterworks, Auckland.
Queenstown Wunderkammer, Milford Galleries, Dunedin.
2017
As Above so Below, Solo Exhibition Milford Galleries, Dunedin.
Fine lines, Milford Galleries, Dunedin.
2016
Auckland Art Fair 2016 Milford Galleries, Dunedin.
Korero Mai, Korero Atu, Dr Areta Wilkinson & Te Rongo Kirkwood, Auckland Museum.
2015
Nga kakahu Karaihe Solo Exhibition, Milford Galleries, Dunedin.
2014
Te Hau a Uru: A message from the west, Te Uru Gallery, Auckland.
Ranamok,Canberra Glassworks, Canberra, Australia.
Ka Awatea Glass Cloaks Solo Exhibition, The de Young Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco.
2013
Ranamok Glass Prize Winners Collection,Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Australia.
Paradise Lost Contemporary Works from the Pacific, UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC.
Call of Taranaki, Puke Ariki Museum, Palmerston North.
Star and Cloak, Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington.
Aho Whenua, Threads Sown from Earth, Pataka Museum, Wellington.
2012
Mini Masterworks 4, Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
Legend! Whangarei Art Museum, Whangarei.
Ka Awatea, Solo Show Pataka Museum, Wellington.