Visible from the Mezzanine tomokanga, this lightbox artwork cycles through the creation narrative of Ko Rangi, Ko Papa, illuminating our deep spiritual and physical connections to the natural world.

Although Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui is primarily a two-storey building, a mezzanine sits between the main floors. Accessed externally through the Mezzanine tomokanga, visitors encounter a large lightbox that becomes visible as they approach the entryway.

Inspired by the karakia Ko Rangi, Ko Papa, and accompanied by an ethereal, ambient soundscape, the artwork moves through vast stretches of creation time. Gentle, shifting lights illuminate different parts of the canvas - Rangi, Papa, ngā atua, ahi kā, āhua o te rangi, ira tangata, ngāi tipu, rauropi moroiti, wai ora. From the divine parents to their descendants, and onward to humans, plants, microorganisms, water, and weather, the work traces the enduring connections between all forms of life.

The work calls on visitors to pause and take note of a continued journey of life, to recognise there is much more to the natural world that things we might see with the naked eye.

Within this journey, the artist gives special space to what they call the “silent kaitiaki” of regeneration and renewal. Fungi and other microorganisms - often overlooked - are honoured here as essential forces in sustaining the natural world.

The movement of the lights is vivid and rhythmic, conveying a sense that the natural world acts with certainty and purpose. In its gentle illumination and cyclical motion, Ko Rangi, ko Papa reminds visitors that creation is continuous, interconnected, and always in conversation with itself.

Wiremu Barriball is a Māori visual artist and musician from the Kāpiti Coast, known for his skill as a tā moko practitioner and his background in graphic design and illustration. His work seeks to transform the ideas and concepts held in tradition in contemporary expressions of Māori today, and his tā moko expertise can be found on media not traditionally seen – shell, wood, stone and leather.

In the music world, he has played with some of Aotearoa’s most recognised groups and is the lead guitarist for the internationally renowned reggae band Katchafire - a role that deepens his ties within the local music scene. Outside of performing, Wiremu continues to express his creativity through a wide range of visual artworks produced from his studio in Horowhenua.