Turi Park

Turi Park was born in Canberra, Australia 1972 and is now based in Wellington. He is a contemporary oil painter excited by the rich history and natural inspiration of Aotearoa, New Zealand. A descendant of European New Zealand parents, Turi traces his ancestry back to the English Lake District, the Orkney Islands of far northern Scotland, and a German missionary and French cooper who met on the Chatham Islands.

Turi is a Maori name, after the captain of the Aotea waka that sailed from Hawaiiki to begin Maori settlement in Patea, Taranaki. At age thirteen, at the Ryoan-ji temple Kyoto, on a school trip to Japan, Turi had a deja vu experience, on stepping into a David Hockney photograph. He decided there and then that he would become a visual artist. Tertiary training followed with a diploma of Visual Communication Design from Wellington Polytechnic. Graduation in 1993 was followed by extensive travel across Asia, Europe and the Central Americas and a stint working in London. On his return to New Zealand, Turi established his own design consultancy, Native whilst pursuing his career as a painter. His artwork is held in New Zealand and international public and private collections.

Turi Park Statement:

I am a contemporary painter excited by the rich history and natural inspiration of Aotearoa New Zealand.

I am Pakeha, a descendant of European New Zealand parents, and trace my ancestry back to the English Lake District, the Orkney Islands of far northern Scotland, and a German missionary and French cooper who met on the Chatham Islands.

Turi is a Maori name, after the captain of the Aotea waka that sailed from Hawaiiki to begin Maori settlement in Taranaki, Aotearoa New Zealand.