2023 Summer Residency

During her residency Brickell will use the Rita Angus Cottage as a base from which to map and connect a living whakapapa around Te Upoko o te Ika*. As a descendent of two important tīpuna from this area, Tara* and Kupe*, Brickell will explore pūrākau (stories) about people and place in this region, tracing their aho, their threads into our present day through tangata (people) and through whenua (earth).

As a complement to her painting practice, Brickell has been exploring rimurapa as an artistic material and tool for the revitalisation of indigenous knowledge for the past few years. It has led her to draw whakapapa connections between her ancestor Kupe in the Wairarapa, to Tāmaki Makaurau’s West Coast, learning of place names such as Karekare, or Ngā kare i whakatū-i-a-Kupe. These names document her ancestor’s adventures in the city where diaspora has placed Brickell. Coming to Te Whānganui-a-Tara, Brickell looks to pūrākau that reveal the tapuwae (footprints) of her tīpuna, so as to collaborate with those who inhabit the rohe today.

*Te Upoko o te Ika
The head of Māui's fish (Wellington).

*Tara
Projenitor of Ngāi Tara and after whom Te Whānganui-a-Tara takes its name.

*Kupe
Many many places around the coast of Te Upoko are named after Kupe's adventures there.

ABOUT HEIDI BRICKELL:

Heidi Brickell (Te Hika o Papauma, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne, Ngāi Tara,
Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Apakura,) is based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Her practice
explores how integrated lineages of mātauranga inform our psychological and
relational spheres. Her recent major solo exhibition PAKANGA FOR THE
LOSTGIRL curated by Cameron Ah Loo-Matamua opened at St Paul’s Street Gallery
in May 2022, travelled to The Physics Room in August and is set for another iteration at The Engine Room, March 2023.

Other recent solo projects include Alluvial Hours at Laree Payne Gallery, Kirikiriroa (2021), and Floundering Arms Swallowed by Pendent Whenua at Paludal, Ōtautahi (2021). She was also in Wiggling together, falling apart at Michael Lett Gallery (2022), Te Whānau Marama 2.0 with Season (2022), Outgrowth alongside Salome Tanuvasa at Mother¿ (2020), He Pāoro Perea with Maia MacDonald at Kaukau, Te Whānganui-ā-Tara (2021) and Nine Māori Painters at Tim Melville Gallery (2020), Tāmaki Makaurau. Brickell was the 2021 recipient of the Molly Morpeth-Canaday Akel Award and has work held in collections of Te Puna Waiwhetū | Christchurch Art Gallery and The Dowse Art Museum. In 2011 she graduated with a BFA from Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland.

Instagram: @heidibrickell

Following her residency, Heidi will present an exhibition at Enjoy in late-2023.

We’re delighted to be partnering with the Rita Angus Cottage Trust on the delivery of our residency programme. This is the fifth year of Enjoy’s partnership with the Rita Angus Cottage Trust, following residencies by Eleanor Díaz Ritson (2022), Ruby嫦潔 White (2021), Daegan Wells (2020) and Sorawit Songsataya (2019).