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 Ku Bailey 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
Te Tai
Tokerau
area for the 1983 opening of the Wharenui 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. The quilt is now in the hands
of a private collector. |
