Whakapī

Taepa uses the analogy of the iro, or maggot, from which the term whakairo (meaning carving or artistry) derives. When Māori observed iro eating the flesh of a carcass, they saw that the maggots would leave a circular patterns on soft-bone tissue. 

This reductive process became the philosophical basis for Māori carving in pre-colonial times.

In working with 3D printed imagery today, Taepa replaces the iro with a pī, or honey bee, to create a new philosophical principle for his art practice. 

Unlike the reductive process of whakairo, the creation of a beehive is an additive manufacturing process, where the bees essentially 3D print a home for their young using wax secretions from their abdomen. Here Taepa reconsiders philosophical concepts from te ao Māori in order to make sense of contemporary circumstances.

• Whakapī wall text