Carving a Path, Weaving a Story: Meet our 2026 Artist in Residence
Rangi Ruru is delighted to welcome Katrina (Kat) Lilly (Ngāi Tahu) as our 2026 Artist in Residence. Kat will be using the residency to create a body of work exploring harakeke weaving techniques, still life photography and developing an online learning management system.
Kat is a registered Art and Learning Support teacher who has recently been studying raranga | weaving at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and pounamu carving with Tūhono Tāonga Tūhono Tāngata. As part of her art practice, she has been researching local harakeke (flax) and developing art resources for ākonga across Aotearoa.
Based in the studio upstairs in the Art Department, Kat will work with Rangi Ruru students across Art/Photography, Te Reo Māori, Te Ara, Textiles and potentially Science.
“The residency involves a body of work that includes the making of a tāonga (woven and pounamu) and the documentation of these processes,” she says. “I will be using muka from the harakeke plant to create Kahu muka, a traditional Māori cloak. I will utilize as much of the waste from this process to create art making tools and taonga. I will then be using these objects as subject matter for still life photography.”
Her documentation of the process will be used to create an online learning management system that will be available as a teaching and learning resource.
Rangi Ruru Girls’ School Head of Visual Arts and Printmaking, Kate Rivers, says the residency relates to the Photography, Art, Te Re Māori, Te Ara and Textiles learning areas, as well as the school’s sustainability programme.
“This project will provide an opportunity for students (and kaiako) to experience an active art practice that incorporates and explores Te Ao Māori as well as katiakitanga over the natural environment. They are welcome to learn and participate in the processes and use new knowledge in the creation of their own taonga or teaching.”
Kat says a commitment to whakawhanaungatanga | building relationships and kaitiakitanga | guardianship lies at the heart of her practise.
“I am exploring how an artist can utilise the natural environment to create mahi toi | art work that is sustainable, honours the practices of our tīpuna while also pushing forward into the future.”
Ms Rivers says ākonga will gain insight into an active contemporary Māori art practice grounded in tikanga, sustainability, and material knowledge and deepen their understanding of Te Ao Māori through hands-on and observational learning.
