Tekauvai Teariki Monga
Tekauvai Teariki Monga | Cook Islands b.1900 d.1961 | Etu popongi - Morning star 1958 | Tivaevae, Taorei style quilt: commercial cotton cloth and thread in patchwork technique | Purchased 2006. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
The patterns and forms most frequently sewn into tivaevae from the Cook Islands are inspired by the immediate environment beyond windows and doors. A vital part of lifestyle and custom, flora forms the basis of virtually all designs.
In this work, Tekauvai Teariki Monga overlooks verisimilitude in favour of geometric abstraction. The quilt was created using a technique known as taorei, or patchwork, whereby pattern takes its form from many small pieces of material carefully stitched together. This striking mathematical composition draws on a range of influences, including moenga, or painted sleeping mats. According to the artist’s granddaughter Vereara Maeva Taripo, the artist was also inspired by Tahitian tifaifai patterns and techniques, as her husband’s ancestors came from a small island off Raiatea, near Tahiti, which the couple often visit.
