Te Waenga – The Spaces Between
This set was a privilege to work on and create. The design and significance that went into this piece was deep and meaningful. I called this set Te Waenga as it fully represents the deep significance of the space between people and a strong yet invisible connection can be nurtured here. This set represents this space.
It is a set for two couples, both married, all of them best friends. It was to create an interconnecting set that would still show completeness with just two of the pieces being together.
The two koru that make a manawa – heart represent one of the couples and these symbols represents freshness, growth, and youth for the koru, and emotion, love, connection, and caring for the manawa. The mangopare – hammerhead shark symbol is for the other couple and this represents strength, leadership, agility, determination, and tenacity.
The pikorua represents a strong connection or bond between people, loyalty, and friendship. This is why it is on every piece and whichever two pieces are together they will complete the pikorua. You can see the meaning in the video below too.
We started talking about the concept and developing our ideas of how to achieve this multi faceted design.
Then we chose the pounamu.
Then the rough shaping of the pieces began, as well as the sanding.
The designs were added to the pounamu and then carved in.
Then finally a polish and the lashing to complete the process.
You can see how I did the lashing in this video here.
