Hei Huia Boar Tusk Pendant | by Gareth McGhie

This beautiful Hei Huia pendant has been carved from Boar Tusk by Gareth McGhie.

For Māori the huia was revered as a symbol of nobility, leadership and hierarchy. The white-tipped tail feathers were worn as head adornments to signify chiefs and people of great mana (authority and power).

Gareth is of English, Irish, Scottish and Finnish descent and was born and raised in Te Matau-a-Māui - Hawkes Bay.
Gareth trained as a hairdresser and was in the industry for ten years before gaining an opportunity to work for Weta Workshop, holding the workshop supervisors role for five years and running a team of up to 100 artists and technicians. After ten successful years within the film industry Gareth was presented with an opportunity to teach at WelTec in Wellington.
With a passion and deep admiration for traditional Māori and Pacific arts, particularly whakairo (carving), specifically within the context of adornment. Support and guidance was provided by Stacy Gordine - Ngāti Porou, a renowned Hastings carver, craftsman and close friend to Gareth, to further his personal skill level, enabling greater insight and direction to refining his personalized design concepts.  

The collaboration and synergy of traditional Māori adornment motifs with the natural forms and elements of nature provides my creative inspiration. Combining both traditional and contemporary methodologies provides a unique look and feel to my work.    
The social structures of our ancestral peoples allowed the development and blossoming of art, design, and levels of craftsmanship rarely paralleled in todays world. Marae based learning practice elevates research to a practical imperative.
My growth as an actively researching artist has been grounded firmly within a Tuakana-teina context. I teach within a project based environment and totally believe in its importance and relevance.       
I look forward to any opportunity to pursue that growth.      

Made in New Zealand

*Please note that this item is available for shipping within New Zealand only.