ROBIN SLOW: Nga Hononga - Connections

9 October – 4 November

Robin Slow is a storyteller, interested in connecting the oral with the visual. He states “when a history or story is visually told it has more flexibility and power - it is not confining”. These visual stories reveal his connection to the whenua (land), the people and the “inter reaction of these features”.

Slow trained as a commercial artist, before completing a teaching diploma with an art major. After seven years living in the vision of Maunga Aoraki he moved to Mohua/Golden Bay. Since 1991 he has worked with whanau at Onetahua Marae producing murals, traditional intruments, kowhaiwhai and carving, culminating in the completion of the wharenui, Te Ao Marama.

Recently Slow has made a shift from the Marae based co-operative process to working on an individual level and exhibiting in galleries. Although this shift has been made, Slow has continued working with traditional materials and processes in his paintings - including exploring the use of Kokowai.

The work presented in this show has a unique richness and depth which pulls the viewer into the work. The layers of meaning and the beautiful lyricism of his work enable a dialogue to take place which could not be achieved through words alone. This is truly powerful storytelling about the uniqueness of place, and our experience of being in the world.