WHARE THOMPSON
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WHARE JOSEPH THOMPSON is of Ngati Whatua and Ngapuhi descent and was born in Whangarei 1972. In 1995 he successfully completed a 4 year diploma in Maori Art and Design, graduating from Waiariki Polytechnic in Rotorua. In 1998 he moved back to Auckland where he has worked alongside a wide range of contemporary Maori artists who share the same aspirations to express their culture and issues through art, using a variety of media.
Whare has exhibited with other artists in various galleries in Auckland and has also completed public artworks for Regional Councils and Hospitals. As an artist who works with a diverse range of disciplines, he has participated in several sculptural and stone symposia with collectives such as Ngapuna Waihanga and Tautai.
Whare has worked as a tutor in Maori Art and Sculpture in the mental health field. In 2004 he had the opportunity to work under the guidance of Carver Lyonel Grant of Ngati Pikiao Te Arawa descent to carve the Meeting House at Unitec in Mt Albert, Auckland, which was completed and formally opened in March 2009.
“My ancestors developed their own disciplines to communicate Purakau-stories and Whakapapa-genealogy that derived from the physical, spiritual and the natural world. So I only wish to continue that relationship between those things and ourselves, utilising traditional and contemporary medium.” |