'Titoki' - Watercolour and Titoki Spiritual Essence on Paper (Karen Hansen, 2024)

Karen Hansen 'Titoki' (2024) 305x220x15 mm

 had never heard of Titoki, before he came to me in a dream. I awoke, with his name on my lips, in the place between sleeping and waking. the third place, hypnagogic state. 

Titoki, it seemed - wanted to ally with me. His message, when I witnessed him, was Tinorangatiratanga - Powerful Self Soverignity.  I discovered later, that Titoki's oil was highly prized and reserved mostly for Cheiftains and their families. Used for hair, and skin, and mixed with Kokowai (Sacred Blood of the Earth) to paint their bodies with ceremonial designs. High Mana.

I was called, afterwards, to visit a Titoki Cheiftain in Otumoetai (Tauranga) , who I have been building relationship with in the slow way of trees.

This homage to Titoki, was painted in a semi-trance state, using the vibrational medicine of Titoki himself to activate the watercolour.

All Karen's latest works are co-creations with Spirit and Nature Beings, which continue their conversations with the viewer long after they come into physical being.