Suspended across the second floor, Earth Mothers traces a powerful ancestral thread of Te Āti Awa femininity, blending atua, colour, memory, and place to invite visitors into reflection and connection.

On the second floor of Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, Earth Mothers stretches a matrilineal thread across the ceiling and down the wall that faces the entrance of Ngā Pou Ruahine. This lineage - mother, grandmother, great-grandmother - asks visitors to reflect on their own ancestral ties to femininity as they move through the space.

The Uwha, divine feminine, also appears in an atua trio: Hineahuone the birther, Hinetītama the maturer, and Hinenuitepō the spiritual guardian. Their presence sits within radiant sweeps of pink, yellow, and orange, colours that evoke the balance and relationship between the feminine and Tāne, the masculine.

As the eye travels toward the front of the room, Matua te Kore and ancestral figures emerge overhead as a black sun accompanied by three stars, watching over the activities unfolding below. Returning the gaze to visitor level, child-like drawings appear -calling to mind our younger selves, or the joyful creativity of our children and grandchildren.

This space, Ngā Pou Ruahine, is a newly dedicated area for performance or meetings, offering a sense of connection to the wider building while remaining distinctly its own. Bespoke Southland Beech profiling grounds the room, while star forms - appearing almost holographic - add a sense of dimension and quiet wonder.

Timeless in its presence, Earth Mothers invites a full turn of the body and of perspective - from the work itself, out toward Te Whanganui-a-Tara and Mātairangi (Mt Victoria), and back again toward Mercer Street. In this way, the work connects lineage, landscape, and lived experience in one continuous cycle.

Originally from Whaitara in Taranaki, Darcy Nicholas has been a central figure in contemporary Māori art since the late 1960s, reshaping the visual language of Māori art for contemporary expression. A highly regarded artist, he has exhibited extensively across Aotearoa and overseas, been the subject of a documentary and published a book, Land of my Ancestors.

Darcy has also played a significant part in shaping the Māori art landscape through his two decades as General Manager of Community Services at Porirua City Council, where he oversaw the creation of Pātaka Gallery and Museum, a pioneering integration of a museum and public library.

His visionary contributions have been acknowledged with several accolades and awards. In 2010 Darcy was awarded the Queen’s Service Order (QSO) for services to museums. In 2013, he was awarded the Supreme Waka Toi award from Creative New Zealand. In 2023, he received the Ngā Tohu Icon Award for lifetime achievement to Māori art and in 2024, was awarded a Fellowship at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts.