Aroha Gossage

Biography

The precious matrilineal knowledge that our mother gave to us , of how to fish and how to grow kai, is so important to me. I feel it is part of our connection to our whenua. We move away, we live in two worlds, but we always return back to our hau kainga (homeland).

Aroha Gossage graduated with a Masters of Art & Design (Honours) in 2015, Auckland University of Technology. Her Iwi (tribe) of Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Ati Awa and the hapu (sub-tribe) Ngāti Ruahine/Ruanui, Ngāti Manuhiri.

Gossage has been represented at ARTIS Gallery since September 2016, when she exhibited in a joint exhibition 'Waenga' with Maori artist, Zena Elliott.

During 2016 Gossage was commissioned by the Kelliher Art Trust to paint a work of Little Barrier Island which was unveiled in December 2016. In March 2017 the Kelliher Art Trust held an exhibition of their Collection - 'New Zealand Landscapes, Six Decades: Leonard Mitchell to Aroha Gossage'.

Her first solo exhibition at ARTIS, Whenua, was held in March/April 2017. The huge interest in this exhibition resulted in all works selling - one of which was purchased by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The body of work in Whenua focused on a personal and spiritual relationship with the coastal area north of Auckland named Pakiri and Little Barrier Island, the ancestral home of Ngāti Manuhiri.

Download Artist's CV

Works