Kaia Waite

This project explores whakapapa, identity, and belonging through contemporary toi Māori practice. Drawing from whānau histories and inherited taonga, I use laser engraving, filling, sanding, painting, and reflective materials to explore how knowledge is revealed, concealed, and carried across generations. The work approaches belonging as an ongoing process of connection and reconnection. Through making, I investigate how whakapapa can be enacted, remembered, and carried forward through contemporary material processes.