April 29 - May 23, 2026
Installation view - front gallery
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| Tokelaufeletoa Rangitoto, 2023 - detail | Monosi, 2023 - detail |
The mono is a small patch on tapa. It covers holes, tears and remarries seams.
Mono is also the title of Kuliemoe’anga Stone Maka’s new show. Three big tapa alongside new smoke and spiderweb paintings make the show.
The tapa are prepared by Stone’s sisters in Tonga, then sent south to Otautahi/Christchurch, where Stone goes to work upon them with his distinctive mix of red clay, dyes, indian ink, charcoal and oil paint.
Each tapa is covered in mono. And Stone riffs upon this by applying many more mono. His however, is a process of willful collage. Cut small, coloured and applied in patterns, I’m reminded of early modernist collages by Braque and others. The visual tradition of Tongan tapa is more abstract than that of Fiji, Rarotonga or Niue. And Maka’s work certainly continues this tradition. His vocabulary of circles, diamonds and bold blocks of colour including plenty of black is a powerful blend of Pacifica and western visual cultures – a language both contemporary and hybrid, in which Maka is now wonderfully proficient and provocative.
Maka’s paintings are also increasingly assured. The naturally feathered and flickering smoke forms are now brushed a little. Different intricate networks of spiderweb, including tunnel web are being explored. And oil paint in varying thicknesses via palette-knife is being
utilized. So a variety of textures, density of mark-making and gentle asymmetries of composition are put before us.
The feeling can be celestial – the pleasure tantalizing.
JS
Images of all exhibited works, including detail images, are to be found in the 'Details of works' section at the bottom of the page.
Mono Halakafa, 2026 - detail of work
Installation view - front gallery
Installation view - front gallery
Installation view - Maiki, 2026 & Mahae, 2026
Installation view - front gallery
Installation view - Tokalalo, 2026 & Monosi, 2023
Installation view - Monosi, 2023 & Mono Fakapā, 2026
Mono Fahi Ua, 2026, 850 x 500mm
Tokelaufeletoa Rangitoto, 2023, 4100 x 3030mm
Tokalalo, 2026, 850 x 500mm
Mono Halakafa, 2026, 3700 x 4900mm
Maiki, 2026, 915 x 715mm
Kulimoe'anga Stone Maka and Jonathan Smart discussing the materials and techniques involved in Mono Halakafa
Kulimoe'anga Stone Maka talks to the concept of 'Mono' with Jonathan Smart
Jonathan Smart allows the work Mono Halakafa to occupy its space on the gallery wall and floor, while also allowing for a sense of scale and perspective
2023
dye, indian ink and red clay on tapa
4100 x 2640mm
Exhibited in
MONO
2023
dye, indian ink and oil on tapa
4100 x 3030mm
Exhibited in
MONO
2026
smoke, spiderweb and gesso on canvas
760 x 760mm
Exhibited in
MONO
2026
dye, indian ink, red clay and oil on tapa
3700 x 4900mm
Exhibited in
MONO
2026
smoke, spiderweb and oil on canvas
915 x 715mm
Exhibited in
MONO
2026
smoke, spiderweb and oil on canvas
915 x 715mm
Exhibited in
MONO
2026
smoke, spiderweb and oil on canvas
850 x 500mm
Exhibited in
MONO
2026
smoke, spiderweb on canvas
850 x 500mm
Exhibited in
MONO
2026
smoke, spiderweb on canvas
850 x 500mm
Exhibited in
MONO