Te Kohimu Parahi - Tom Carroll 2020

Double Chambered Pūtōrino

Swamp Rimu, L620mm SOLD

‘The Bronze Whisper’ is the culmination of my 7 years experience as a taonga puoro maker and practitioner, reconnecting the past and creating a future where broken traditions are reassembled on an internal and external level.

Inspired by receiving my whakapapa from my paternal grandmother Fern Rutherford while living in Melbourne, I relocated to my hometown of Whanganui to pursue my developing interest in Maori music, and seek connections in the taonga puoro community.

Following the guidelines from experienced practitioners, many of who have become close friends, my understanding of materials and their uses deepened and I have come to appreciate taonga puoro as a sacred art form as well as a place open to explore and express my visual and theoretical interests.

I have strived to develop a personal style conscious and respectful of tradition without being beholden to it’s limitations. In the making of each piece I feel I am shaping and unveiling living vibrational entities and assisting their birth into this dimension.

Reconnecting to my own whakapapa and culture and finding my place within taonga puoro I identify and express in a free and open way. Making and playing - for it’s own pleasures - this is something that nourishes my soul, and connects me into other like-mindedness. They were temporarily lost from our culture and so was I - so it is an honour and a privilege to partake in re-bridging that connection.

Tom Carroll (Ngati Maru, Hauraki)