Mihi

Born and based in Ōtautahi, acclaimed artist Darryn George is of Ngāpuhi descent. His paintings reflect the breadth of his cultural roots, finding their anchorage in his Christian faith and his Māori heritage. He has primarily worked with geometric abstraction, but over recent years his practice has evolved—tones have undulated, texture has replaced smoothness, colours have brightened, and abstraction has given way to loose figuration.

In this new series, Darryn George returns to structured formality while bringing forward the generative energy of his recent Garden of Eden works. These beautifully-balanced geometric paintings have the controlled surfaces of his earlier works yet are alive with colour, pattern and rhythm.

The title 'Mihi' translates as 'tribute'. Each work is named after an important person in the artist's life. These paintings are respectfully dedicated to hidden leaders: "A big part of the stories and art of Māori culture is acknowledging those that have gone before us; those people from our past who have had an influence upon us. For me, these lovely people whom the paintings are named after, often went under the radar, but for me the seeds that they sowed were significant."