Bird’s eye view to Bachelor of Design and Arts

Murals, Māori myths, an innovative Spanish museum and childhood recollections of attending Māori land hui with his grandmother are among key influences for art ākonga Vallance Wrathall.

Vallance - Te Ātiawa, Ngā Ruahine, Ngāti Ruanui and Ngāi Tahu - is part of the first cohort of WITT’s first offering of the Level 7 year of the Bachelor of Design and Arts programme.

Vallance began his art studies at WITT with a Level 3 qualification in 2012 then completed a Level 4 Certificate, and most recently graduated from the Level 5 and Level 6 Diplomas, which are each one year long.

He’d been working in hospitality in Palmerston North when he first heard about WITT’s art offerings and decided to pursue his lifelong passion for art he’s had since primary school.

“I remember one drawing I did when we all went to this old house, and we had to sit there and draw this house. I knew I had a talent when I drew the house from a bird’s eye view,” he recalls of his primary school art days. This exercise inspired him, and he continued throughout school focussing on art.

Vallance had initially wanted to investigate Māori architecture. He was captivated by the work of Canadian American architect and designer Frank Gehry, particularly his design for the audaciously non-linear Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, which opened in 1997.

Born and raised in Waitara, his attention has turned to researching and incorporating toi Māori in his art, from early cave drawings to contemporary artists like (the late) Buck Nin and the boldly vibrant modernist works of Waitara-born Darcy Nicholas. His work is strongly rooted in Te Ao Māori, and – like the contemporary artists he admires – Vallance is keen to push boundaries on how traditional Māori imagery can be represented.

He owes this legacy and strong Māori awareness to growing up with his grandmother, Ira Tamati-Aubrey (Nanny Pop). “I remember, she would attend many hui throughout Taranaki and Aotearoa and as a child I would be right by her side. I got to listen, hear stories, and meet many new whānau. Being immersed helped me see and understand that world.”

Meetings were focussed on Māori whenua and treaty settlements, including the Ngāi Tahu signing in 1999.

Sadly, his grandmother and matriarch of the family passed away in 2020. Vallance says she was something of an artist too. “She liked to paint driftwood for her garden ornaments she would always be drawing in her spare time. She had loads of books full of doodles, some which I take inspiration from.”

Art for life

After a break from art study, Vallance is back at WITT to do the Level 7 year of the Bachelor of Design and Arts programme so he can further pursue a creative career. He currently divides his time between being a pouāwhina at Waitara East Primary School, design work at TGM – a leading design company in Taranaki – as well as creating in his home studio and working on this latest art projects at WITT.

“Since I finished Level 6 in 2016, I’ve been waiting for the bachelor’s degree to become available. For me it’s a progression of knowledge in the arts. I want to see how far I can take it.”

WITT tutor Philippa Berry-Smith is excited to see Vallance and his fellow students progress through the new Level 7 Bachelor of Design and Arts, offered as a final year in conjunction with UCOL Whanganui. “Although students can’t enrol directly into the Bachelor Level 7, it’s designed so they can pathway through our programmes at Levels 4, 5, and 6, gaining qualifications and experience as they progress,” says Philippa. “The Level 7 qualification is focused on research, an internship, professional practice, and art studio practice.”

Vallance is set to complete his degree this November. He exhibited a large mural in the recent student art and design exhibition on campus and another researched piece depicting an evolution of Māori art. The work references a memorable trip he made to Te Waipounamu in 2012 and again in 2023 to attend the Ngāi Tahu Paemanu artist symposium. While there, he visited historic sites of Māori rock art in the Canterbury and Otago regions with other emerging and established Ngāi Tahu artists.

He says his choice to pursue art meant challenging the stigma of commonly held views such as ‘you’re not going to make any money as an artist’.

With that in mind, he’s been commissioned to paint a mural in his hometown, Waitara, for Mahia Mai A Whaitara Community Centre for kaumatua. The scale is a bit daunting; he confesses. “But it is something I am committed to.”

“I’ve managed to align this project with my internship studies, which gives me the opportunity to use my artistic skills, and the knowledge of the WITT tutors to design and create a local community narrative from the people, for the people to enjoy,” Vallance says. “I’m hoping at the completion of the mural to have an official unveiling, kōrero and kai to give thanks.”