Dame Robin Adair White DNZM is a well-known New Zealand painter and printmaker of Māori descent and a vocal champion of Pasifika culture. An ardent member of the Bahá'í Faith and a teacher of weaving within the Pacific community, she currently lives in Masterton, New Zealand.
Read MoreRaised in Auckland, White graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1967, where she was taught by Colin McCahon, whom she sites as a major influence. In 1969, she moved to Bottle Creek in the suburb of Paremata in Porirua, Wellington to teach art at Mana College. While there, she taught herself to screenprint and reproduce images from her paintings. She also befriended many local artists and writers.
Robin White is mainly known for her earlier images of iconic buildings set in landscape, portraits of family or friends, and symbolic 'New Zealand' toys like the Buzzy Bee. Immediately recognisable, these feature bright light, unmodulated flat planes, and clear shapes and colour, following a tradition of 'Pacific light' and continuing the regionalism perpetuated by Christopher Perkins, Rita Angus, Michael Smither, and Don Binney.
Examples include Mangaweka (1973), Fish and Chips, Maketu (1975), Sam's Place, Bottle Creek (1971), and Florence and Harbour Cone (1975).
In the 1980s after a brief period in Dunedin, White moved to Kiribati and developed an interest in woodblocks and local imagery. This influence is evident in works such as The Maneaba. 5. From: Beginners' guide to Gilbertese (1983), I am doing the washing in the bathroom (1984), and This Far and No Further (1992).
In 1996, after a fire destroyed the contents of her studio, White became involved with community pandanus leaf weaving, barkcloth (tapa), and piupiu projects, realising that a community effort could achieve spectacular results. Three years later, White returned to Aotearoa New Zealand and helped set up a group of Tongan and Fijian collaborators for weaving in Masterton. In these very large wall-sized works, we often see internal architectural spaces instead of volcanic landscapes, with austere pieces of block furniture holding jugs or the occasional kerosene lamp. Reminiscent of Japanese prints, these barkcloth images with earth colours present delicate decorative patterns along the rectangular orthogonal sections of domestic wall.
Examples include Living in a Material World (2017), Something is Happening Here (2017), Hear the Voice (2017), and On Pratt Street They Pray for Miracles (2017).
In 2017, White received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award and a University of Auckland Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012. In 2009, she was honoured as Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Robin White has been the subject of both solo and group exhibitions.
Recent solo exhibitions include Aio ngaira (this is us), McLeavey Gallery, Wellington (2021); Robin White: A Life in Prints, Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato, Hamilton (2021); That Vase, with Tamari Cabeikanacea, Two Rooms, Auckland (2020); Something is happening here, with Tamari Cabeikanacea and Ruha Fifita, Two Rooms, Auckland (2017); Ko e Hala Hangatonu: The Straight Path, with Ruha Fifita, Two Rooms, Auckland (2013); Island Life: Robin White in New Zealand and Kiribati, Hocken Library, University of Otago (2002).
Recent group exhibitions include 50/fifty: 50 Years of Aratoi, Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, Masterton (2019); Siu i Moana, United Nations, New York (2017); Kermadec: Nine Artists Explore the South Pacific, City Gallery Wellington (2012); A New Garden, The 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial, Brisbane (2010).
White's work is included in institutional collections across New Zealand and Australia, including Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki; Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato; Dunedin Public Art Gallery; Hocken Library, University of Otago; Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
John Hurrell | Ocula | 2021
