Tūī Diprose is a multidisciplinary creative who channels their art through the dreamscape, listening to its intuitive, unpredictable rhythm. Inspiration is found in spiritual rivers, gleaned through conversation, fossicked in natural environments and activated in ritual.
My creativity is deeply investigative, intuitive and spiritual.
In recent years my practice has been informed by dream analysis, land-based spirituality and magic. I return again and again to the indigenous belief that all beings are part of a deeply interconnected ecosystem; not separate from each other, but are extensions of and kin to the earth itself.
I see my own creative instinct awaken through the immediacy of the earth and its wild spirit. Allowing each material to speak to me of its origins, I listen deeply and co-create with the spirit which animates it.
Tūī received a Diploma in Jewellery from Hungry Creek School of Art and Craft (2014-2017) and a Bachelor in Visual Art from Otago Polytechnic (2019-2020). They now create talisman jewellery; a ritualised offering imbuing object with vibrational healing.
Tūī studied Massage Therapy, Aromatherapy and Yoga Therapy at Wellpark College of Natural Therapies between 2010-2012. In 2010 they trained in Reiki Energy Healing as a foundation to allow their own organic healing style to emerge in following years. They studied Rongoā Māori at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in 2019. Tūī is passionate about earth-based, nourishing holistic practices to remember our wholeness.
Exhibitions
2023
Proof of Concept: HANDSHAKE8. Depot Artspace, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
2021
Kauri and Tohorā: Indigenous Healing for Anthropocene Grief. Studio One Toi Tū, Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei land:
2020
Clink Project 7: Viral. Dowse Museum, Te Atiawa land: Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington: Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
Creating with Kauri. Kauri Museum, Te Uri o Hau of Ngāti Whātua land: Matakohe, Aoteaora New Zealand.
Anthropocene Grief: Indigenous Healing Methodologies. SITE Graduate Show, Otago Polytechnic Dunedin School of Art, Ngāi Tahu land: Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aoteaora New Zealand.
2019
Clink Project 6 @ Radiant Pavilion International Contemporary Jewellery Biennale. Percy Grainger Museum, Wurundjeri land: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
2018
Grandmother’s Healing Shrooms. Private Collection, Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Rārua land: Motueka Valley, Te Wai o Pounamu, Aotearoa New Zealand.
2017
Situate. Hungry Creek Art and Craft School Graduate Show, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
2017
Artweek. NorthArt, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland,
Aoteaora New Zealand.
2016
Hungry Creek Art and Craft School Graduate Show, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
2015
Hungry Creek Art and Craft School Graduate Show
Red Queen. Private Collection. Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Solace and Shadow. Private Collection. Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
Vision Statement
Creating collective transformation in Aotearoa by 2026, by empowering 1000 individuals to live a more passionate, loving and deeply connected existence through handcrafted jewellery talismans, readings and healing sessions, with integrity for sustainable futures.
Mission Statement
I create sustainable jewellery talismans that transform and empower people of Aotearoa, inspiring a passionate existence.
To make these sustainable for the earth, my works are handcrafted, one-offs, individualised or small batches of 11 or under. I respect that all things are precious in their own right, which is why I use a variety of organic materials across my creative practice, some available for purchase and some exclusively for exhibition and philosophical inquiry.
I focus on personal and collective empowerment as the greatest vessels of change, transformation and healing. To achieve this goal my works are created within healing rituals and charged with vibrational healing energy, aligned with the rhythms of nature.
Aotearoa has a beautiful indigenous history that is still very much alive today. With respect to Te Ao Māori and a core principle of interconnectedness between all beings and the earth, the aliveness of all things, it is known that all works created with healing intentions will ripple out to the collective consciousness, creating change for the good of the all.