2024 - International exhibition
Brett’s large-scale sculptures have captivated viewers around the world
Brett’s work explores indigenous histories, politics and philosophies. He views his Māori whakapapa (ancestry) as a broader Pasifika/Moana identity. Brett’s work regularly brings together motifs from contrasting cultures to provoke discussion about the legacy of colonisation.
Brett has exhibited in a broad range of national and international contexts. He has exhibited twice at the Sydney Biennale (2006 and 2010), and at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007.
Wasteland 2023
Wastelands continues themes from Brett’s recent exhibition Tai Moana Tai Tangata and is also a homage to his father’s (Fred Graham) sculptures from the 70’s.
His initial approach was to make a work that physically responded to the ’style’ of his father’s work. He then decided it was more appropriate to make a work in a style that responded to his father’s conceptual ideas.
Wasteland is a homage to nature and expresses a Te Ao Māori/indigenous proximity to the natural world.
Materials: Steel, found wagon wheels, macrocarpa wood, paint.
View this work: Corderie in the Arsenale
“‘Wastelands’ refers to the wetlands or ‘swamps’ that were a most valuable resource to Māori but loathed by European settlers who drained them to create pasturelands.”