Fayne Robinson
Introduction
Charles Eldon Fayne Robinson (born 1964) is a New Zealand Māori artist specialising in carving. Robinson has contributed to the carving of buildings on many marae in New Zealand as well as exhibiting his art in galleries and museums.
Biography
Robinson was born in 1964 and grew up in the South Island town of Hokitika on the West Coast of New Zealand. His iwi are Kāti Māmoe, Kai Tahu, Ngāti Apa Ki Te Rā Tō and Ngāti Porou. Robinson trained in Māori carving at the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, Rotorua and graduated in 1984, He was just 17 when he got accepted and is one of only four from Ngāi Tahu who have attended. He was influenced to pursue Māori art from meeting the head weaver from the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, Emily Schuster, when he was younger.
Robinson has carved on meeting houses and at marae, including Te Tauraka Waka a Māui Marae in Bruce Bay, completed in 2005, and Arahura Marae near Hokitika, completed in 2013. The New Zealand national museum Te Papa Tongarewa owns three of his works in their collections.
Works and exhibitions
Wharenui as master carver
- 2005 – Kaipō, Te Tauraka Waka a Māui Marae, Bruce Bay
- 2010 – Wheke, Rāpaki (Te Wheke) Marae, Te Rāpaki-o-Te Rakiwhakaputa (with Riki Manuel)
- 2013 – Tūhuru, Arahura Marae, Arahura
Exhibitions
- 2003 – Kiwa-Pacific Connections, Vancouver, Canada, group exhibition
- 2014 – Matatoki: Contemporary Māori Carving, group exhibition developed by Rotorua Museum
- 2017 – Ka Nohoaka Toi, Toi Moaraki CoCA, Christchurch, group exhibition sponsored by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu
- 2019 – Kura Pounamu: Our Treasured Stone, group exhibition curated by Te Papa Tongarewa
Public installations
- 2010 – Te Pou Herenga Waka, Christchurch Civic Building, Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch
- 2013 – Te Kaiwhakatere o Te Raki, pouwhenua, Scott Base, Antarctica
- 2017 – Pounamu sculpture, Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa, Canterbury (with Caleb Robinson)
- 2018 – Tāwhaki, Tūranga, Christchurch (with Caleb Robinson)
- 2018 – Kāhui Whatu, Tūranga, Christchurch
- 2019 – Mana Motuhake, Victoria Square, Christchurch
- 2020 – Carved memorial stone, Jacobs River
- 2022 – Woolston Village pou, six pou, Woolston
- 2022 – Pou Tū te Raki o Te Maiharanui, Takapūneke, Banks Peninsula
- 2022 – Te Kopikopiko o Te Waka, Gillespies Beach Road
- 2023 – Kauawhi, temporary installation at the Bridge of Remembrance, Christchurch; to be permanently installed at Kahurangi, the new youth mental health facility at Hillmorton Hospital, in 2024
- Te Pou Herenga Waka, Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch
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Head of Tāwhaki, Tūranga, Christchurch -
Kāhui Whatu, Tūranga, Christchurch - Mana Motuhake, Victoria Square, Christchurch
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Te Kopikopiko o Te Waka, Gillespies Beach Road, South Westland
Other
- 2017 – Crozier for Richard Wallace, second Pīhopa o Te Waipounamu
- 2018 – Manly Warringah Sea Eagles jersey, worn by Manly for matches played in Christchurch
- 2018 – Te Ātanga, Broadhurst–Shelford Trophy, contested in NRL matches between Manly Warringah and the New Zealand Warriors