Her Story

Since she first exhibited in Karanga Karanga at the Fisher Gallery (now Te Tuhi) in 1986, Maureen Lander has established herself as an artist, teacher and weaver whose trademark blend of indigenous and artificial materials, within an impressively varied practice, connects across cultures and generations. She is based in the Hokianga and has exhibited in New Zealand and overseas.

Priscilla Pitts: Maureen, you reminded me that we first met as part of a collective compiling the 1987 Herstory Diary, which focused on women artists. You’ve achieved an incredible amount since then and it’s been fascinating to see how your work has developed over the years. Can we first talk about the innovative way in which you use harakeke (New Zealand flax) and other indigenous materials in the form of installation? Maureen Lander: My first use of harakeke was an installation made at the end of 1984 at Elam, before moving from studying sculpture to photography. That year I had also started learning cloak-making from noted weaver Diggeress Te Kanawa. I stayed with her a couple of times at the Ohaki Maori village, near the Waitomo caves, learning how to prepare muka (flax fibre) and feathers and the basic whatu (finger-twining) technique to make a small kete muka which was my tauira (learning piece). I then had to go home and prepare all my materials ready to make a kakahu (cloak). While doing this I became seduced by the look, feel and smell of the harakeke and the beautiful sheen on the muka when I held it up to the light. Using just a mussel shell to extract the muka, it felt ‘right’ in my hands. I could relate to the plant itself, and also to the language and terminology of weaving―a rich source of symbolic and metaphoric language that I could explore in my own art-making.

With flax I can create a visual language that is of this place and also takes in my dual ancestry. My Yorkshire great-grandfather started a flax mill in Moetangi valley at Mitimiti. He would ride his horse over the sandhills and swim with it across