Flax making a comeback

Local artist Jane Crosbie, as always, is working to expand her artistic repertoire, now by adding harakeke, New Zealand flax.

“I’m studying an indigenous art form called raranga (te reo Māori for weaving or plaiting), and that’s the traditional art form of weaving traditional flax,” she says.

“All sorts of items can be made out New Zealand flax. Traditionally, Māori wove clothing out of it, they used it to make floor coverings, they used it to make lashings for buildings, sails for their waka, shoes to walk over hard ground, or snow, and for raincoats.”

Professionally, Crosbie uses paint as her primary medium, but a few years ago, she became fascinated by raranga and decided to try it to help her grow as an artist.

As a long-time plant lover, the thought of creating art from a natural material that was totally sustainable was something she loved. Crosbie has already started adding her own designs to her raranga projects. As an artist who traditionally works on canvas, she’ll also be incorporating raranga into her paintings.

Crosbie has been a contemporary mixed-media artist and painter and is renowned internationally. She and her husband and fellow artist Phillip Crosbie exhibit their work at their North Waikato art studio.

Later this month, Jane Crosbie plans to host the Fire Horse Art Exhibition, but a bout of Covid-19 delayed the completion of some of the paintings for the exhibition.