Tia Barrett
Pātaka Wā
14 January – 21 February 2026
Pātaka Wā centres on the lifecycle of tuna by bringing a consciousness to the biology of time. Static latex tuna skins embody time in this installation by locking it in, tying it up, and hanging it on a line, represented through 30 lunar phases and speaking to the tension between decay and the transformation of flesh. As human skin wrinkles and thins with age, tuna skin changes colour and tone, as reflected in the maramataka.
In contrast, the moving image becomes the pulse of the installation; it is the animating breath. Flowing water and drifting air bubbles are making mauri present within the space. The clotheslines become the spines of the installation, temporal lines that reach across the site, intersecting with the movements of tuna as they emerge and disappear through the wall.
These tuna, who seamlessly break through the walls of the gallery, challenge fixed notions within Māori temporal ontology, revealing approaches to dynamic interdependence. Tuna are a juxtaposition to what it is to be ‘fixed’. Their fluid nature prompts the loosening of fixed ideas and systems. Yet, structured with freedom, they embody an inner knowing of when to migrate and return home.
Pātaka Wā is part of an ongoing research project exploring the elusive life cycle of tuna in relation to human connection and time-based art practice. Inviting the viewer into this repository of time to reflect on whakapapa, kaitiakitanga and ngā taiao, the work seeks to honour the mauri of tuna and the waters they inhabit.
The artist gratefully acknowledges and thanks Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga for providing the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant, which supports the exhibition and ongoing research of this work.
Glossary
Pātaka Wā: Time Repository
Tuna: Eel
Maramataka: Māori Lunar Calendar
Mauri: Life Force
Whakapapa: Genealogy
Kaitiakitanga: Guardianship, protection, and stewardship
Ngā taiao: Environments
Images by Anton Maurer
Video by Zak McNeil