Te Rongo Kirkwood (born 1973) is an artist from Auckland, New Zealand. She is known for her

glass art Glass art refers to individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. It ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including glas ...

, particularly in fused and slumped glass.Linda George (2009)
Te Rongo Kirkwood
Toi Maori Aotearoa – Maori Arts New Zealand. Archived 25 October 2009.

Career

Kirkwood credits her initial interest in glass art to meeting renowned glass artist

Danny Lane Danny Lane (born 27 January 1955) is an American artist, best known for his glass and steel sculpture.''Clearly A Genius'', Helen Chislett’, Financial Times, How To Spend It, February 2008 Lane is also known for his work in art furniture an ...

in the United Kingdom. When she returned to New Zealand, her interest grew, but with two young children, she was not able to attend a formal multi-year course in glass art at a university. She purchased a glass kiln and began to learn independently. Kirkwood's works have won recognition in a range of competitions and exhibitions. Her work was selected for inclusion in the Bombay Sapphire Blue Room exhibition in 2007, and for a Matariki-themed exhibition organised by

Manukau City Council Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is sometimes referred to as "South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does ...

in 2009. In 2009 she won the Auckland Royal Easter Show art awards in the glass art category with her 'Puawai' piece. In 2014 and 2012, she was selected as a finalist in the Australian

Ranamok Glass Prize The Ranamok Glass Prize is an annual award given to glass artists who live in Australia or New Zealand. The award was established in 1994 by Andy Plummer and Maureen Cahill in order to promote glass art to the public. Plummer and Cahill announced ...

She has also contributed to the

Project Twin Streams Project Twin Streams is an umbrella name for a number of initiatives centred on two streams ( Opanuku and Oratia) in the West Auckland, New Zealand. It consists of a number of environmental and community initiatives and infrastructure. This inc ...

project in Waitakere by producing a major artwork near the pathway at Millbrook Esplanade. Her glass sculpture 'Te Aho Maumahara – Sacred Strand of Memories' hangs in the community area of the Devonport Library. In 2014, her work was exhibited in the group show ''Te Hau A Uru: A Message from the West'' at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery alongside artists Rebecca Baumann, Philip Dadson, Brett Graham, Lisa Reihana and Tanya Ruka. Between June 2015 and February 2016, Kirkwood's ''Ka Awatea'' series, previously displayed at Pataka Art + Museum in 2012, was exhibited at the De Young Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco. In June 2016, ''Kōrero Mai, Kōrero Atu'', featuring the work of Kirkwood and jeweller Areta Wilkinson opened at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Exhibitions

Solo

* ''Ka Awatea,'' Pataka Art + Museum,

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...

, 2012 * ''Nga Kakahu Karaihe'',

Milford Galleries Milford Galleries are among New Zealand's leading dealer art galleries, with their headquarters in the city of Dunedin. There are two physical art spaces, in Dunedin and Queenstown, and there was also formerly a gallery in Auckland. The galleri ...

, Dunedin, 11 April – 6 May 2015 * ''Ka Awatea,'' De Young (museum), San Francisco, CA, January 2014 – February 2016 * ''Kōrero Mai, Kōrero Atu: Artists Areta Wilkinson and Te Rongo Kirkwood at Auckland Museum,'' Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, 1 July – 11 September 2016 *''As Above, So Below'', Milford Galleries, Dunedin, 22 April – 17 May 2017

Group

* ''Te Hau a Uru: A Message from the West,'' Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Auckland, 1 November – 7 December 2014

Personal life

Kirkwood is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and Scots ancestry. She affiliates with Waikato, Taranaki,

Te Wai-o-Hua Te Waiohua or Te Wai-o-Hua is a Māori iwi (tribe) confederation that thrived in the early 18th century. The iwi's rohe (tribal area) was primarily the central Tāmaki Makaurau area (the Auckland isthmus) and the Māngere peninsula, until the 17 ...

, Te Kawerau and Ngāi Tai ki Tamaki iwi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkwood, Te Rongo 1973 births Living people New Zealand glass artists Women glass artists New Zealand Māori artists 20th-century New Zealand sculptors 21st-century New Zealand sculptors 20th-century New Zealand women artists 21st-century New Zealand women artists Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki people Te Kawerau ā Maki people Taranaki (iwi) Waikato Tainui people