UrbanMaori : Kereama Taepa

Kereama Taepa has a bit of history when it comes to art. His grandmother, Mavis Newland, his brother, Ngatai Taepa, and his father, Wi Taepa are artists too. During his school holidays Kereama could be found in the studio where he would be bone carving and honing his clay skills. So it's no surprise Kereama has ended up an artist, but what is a little surprising is where his art ends up: on chests and legs.  Urbanmaori, his alter ego, is based on the Maori word waimaori, meaning fresh water. Urbanmaori loosely translates as ‘pure street’.  It is also comprised of one Maori word and one English word, and that is the core of Urbanmaori’s direction. It is not just Maori, nor is it just Pakeha, it is both. The design aesthetic of Urbanmaori fuses customary Maori motif with contemporary iconography one would see around town, on the T.V. or the Internet. Says Kereama: “The idea is that the world around us now is what we live in, and our design should reflect this. It is sometimes beautiful and is also sometimes controversial just like our history”.