About Te Araroa

Te Araroa is a small town near the east cape of Aotearoa New Zealand. Lena Schmid-Tupou found it fascinating and poetic to think of an area that is the first one to see the sun in the morning. The first one to start the new day and the first one to start the new year.

Te Araroa is also the name of a trail that goes from the most northern part of the north island of Aotearoa all the way to the most southern point of the south island. In this series, Schmid-Tupou explores different stages of an imaginary landscape that appears on the canvas while painting.

Te Araroa No 1 gives us the impression of a sunrise, where in Te Araroa No 2 we get a feeling of a foggy day. Te Araroa No 4 feels like we are looking over a mountain ridge in a night sky filled with stars and moons. And Te Araroa No 6 is like a field of flowers that become blurred in Te Araroa No 7 in the mid day sun.