FlaxDigital | Maori Inspired Design and Art

Im not a big fan of carving 21st keys, so when someone approaches me to do one i usually try and change the subject or say “nah i don’t do 21st keys” An alternative is a carving that can almost look like a key but isn’t. I was in luck when my step brother in laws 21st rolled around and his father said he wanted a Ngapuhi represented carving. I said to him, does it have to be a key, he thought about it and said nah it doesn’t.

His mother is of Ngapuhi descent and father Ngati Porou. The inspiration behind the carving was to represent both of his identities, hence the Ngapuhi style carving and the bone tongue his father made for the art piece.

The timber is native swamp totara from Northland New Zealand. The bone is beef bone with paua inserts carved by Garry Gerrard.