Richard Francis
Richard Francis is a painter, designer and ta moko artist with affiliations to Te Arawa and Ngati Pikiao.
“Tenei au e tu ana i raro i te Whakamaru a Hinehopu. Haruru ana nga waewae-tapu a oku tupuna i te takutai o te Roto iti kite a Ihenga. Ka mau te wehi, te ihi o Matawhaura, tu tonu ra, ha, Tihei Mauriora!”
“Art is Culture, a way of life! Culture is Art, an intellectual development of a people.”
Richard currently resides in Rotorua working full-time as a contemporary Maori artist, specialising in ta moko (Maori skin art). Being the first graduate in 1995 out of the nationally-renowned contemporary Maori art school ‘Toihoukura’ at the Tairawhiti Polytechnic in Gisborne, under the tutelage of Derek Lardelli and Sandy Adsett, Richard has been involved in the Maori art movement for over a decade.
Rechard has represented New Zealand three times at the South Pacific Arts Festival in Samoa 1996, Noumea 2002 and Palau 2004. He has exhibited his artwork nationally and internationally in Bath, New Zealand House in London, UK, and at the University of Hawai'i, USA.
Richard is also a national committee member of Te Uhi A Mataora, the national ta moko collective under Toi Maori Aotearoa - Maori Arts New Zealand.
Richard believes that the Maori arts are an integral part of the New Zealand culture, and being an active part of the renaissance of contemporary Maori art has seen moko almost return to its full recognition as an art form of integrity and important to one's identity.
Links
Toiariki Arts - Contemporary Maori Arts / Ta Moko Richard Francis' website