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Ku Bailey was born in 1944 in Auckland, New Zealand, of New Zealand Maori
father and New Zealand Irish mother.
Having always loved art and craft, there was always a paintbrush or pot of
glue close at hand as Ku nourished her creative spirit.
In 1978 she became a member of the Te Unga Waka Maori Women’s Welfare
League, whose main aim was to promote the appreciation and teaching of New
Zealand Maori arts.
In 1979 she entered a “taniko” watchstrap on behalf of the Te Unga Waka
group at the Timaru National Maori Women’s League Conference and took first
prize. She was also chosen to weave a taniko panel depicting the Tai
Tokorau area for the 1983 opening of the Warenui at Saint Stephen’s Maori
Boys’ College.
Taking what she had learned, Ku Bailey went on to teach at the Kakariki
Marae at Green Bay High School in West Auckland. She taught there for
4 years, eventually starting a new branch of the Maori Women’s Welfare
League with the main aim of promoting Maori art and craft.
With 4 children at school, she gave up teaching to take on a full-time job
to help with the family budget. For 13 years she worked for a New
Zealand wool supplier, initially on the production side, but eventually
moving to the design section where she crafted patterns for hand-knitted
garments.
Following a health scare, Ku left full-time employment to do what she had
always wanted to do – be more involved in art. She became involved
with a group of painters in her area and began exhibiting with some success.
In 1994 she had two works in the Waipukurau National Art Awards.
Ku has worked with various media, including wool fiber, oil, water color,
and traditional New Zealand Maori media such as jade, bone, and flax.
More recently, Ku has been creating
quilt
art. Her magnificent piece depicting the
Maori creation myth, “Te Putake O Te Ao”,
which depicts the Maori creation myth, was a finalist in the International
Quilt Festival – Millennium Quilt Exhibition held in Houston, TX in 2000.
As a finalist in the exhibition, “Te Putake” was subsequently exhibited in
Atlantic City, Barcelona, and Kobe until the summer of 2002. An image of the
quilt will appear as an illustration in a book on world creation myths to be
published at the end of 2005. The quilt is now in the hands of a
private collector. If you're interested in other pieces of quilt art
by Ku Bailey, please visit
Ku
Bailey's quilt art gallery here at Ariki Art. |
