Itutu

Aspects of my work … go beyond interpretation [to] where the material itself expresses its own life energy. – Chris Charteris

This triptych of needles was carved from the rib of a humpback whale washed up on a Coromandel beach. Chris Charteris uses the curve, strength, and flexibility of whalebone to pay tribute to the beauty and functionality of itutu (needles) from the Pacific nation of Kiribati.

Itutu demonstrates the cultural knowledge that materials and forms carry in Kiribati art practice – recognising the long histories that contemporary art connects to.