By Rhonda Bartle

Artist Jo Tito's cottage-studio in the hills: Image Puke Ariki Pictorial Collection.

High inspiration
High against the Taranaki bush line, not too far from New Plymouth, Jo Tito makes flax paper to print her photographs on. She has lived on the upper reaches of Carrington Road, in a rustic yellow cottage, for almost four years.

It's a wonderful environment, she says, a link to life and art, where even the weather becomes an integral part of her wild artistic landscape.

"My inspiration is right at my door. I love it here. I love the rain and the mist."

Taranaki links

Though Tito holds firm Taranaki connections, she came here from Auckland, almost as though her tūpuna (ancestors) were pulling her strings.

"Definitely. I grew up in Rotorua. My mum's Te Arawa. I moved to Auckland for a couple of years and became part of a Māori Women's Dance Company, with my cousin and her sister.

"I started off being their photographer and then a kind of manager. Then I became a dancer, which was a wonderful experience and something I'm still pursuing.

"But when I was in Auckland, I had this urge to be in Taranaki. Just come back, reconnect and come home, even though I've never lived here. The mountain, the land was calling me to come."

Hoki ki to maunga
Kia purea ai koe e nga
Hau a Tawhirimatea

Return to your mountain
To be cleansed by the
Winds of Tawhirimatea

Thinking outside the square

On the narrow, bushy road that winds past Pukeiti, she now lives without power, a viewing shaft down to the distant sea and other artists' work upon her walls.

But her own talent is alive and well and in the continuing evolving process of being deposited on paper made from flax.

"I've been doing photography for about 12 years," she says. "I started at Polytech but I felt it really hindered my creativity, so I bought a camera and pretty much taught myself.

"I've always been one to think outside the square, and with photography, it's quite a contemporary medium and so I wanted to keep the photos organic, so they looked like they came from nature."

Photos in the sun

Tito brings out a fine collection of images and spreads them on sun-warmed wooden steps that lead off into the wilderness.

Plants unfurling, sharp leaves jabbing, a single palm dancing. Every snapshot is made more interesting by being printed on textured paper.

"I was quite pleased how they turned out, actually," she offers shyly. "They're quite stunning."

Film on flax - some of Tito's striking images: Image Puke Ariki Pictorial Collection.

Up close and personal

Perspective is the big thing, Tito says, 'getting in close, not standing back.' Somehow, the paper has given the shots more depth. Unlike glossy photos, these make a person want to lean forward to touch them.

"I've had some framed but at them moment I'm selling them like this. They've all got stories to them.

"These are what I took after coming out of a 10 day meditation course. This dark bit here is a camera fault, but I was quite pleased with the result."

Lightly, she runs a finger over each image. "This one has mountain toe, so it's quite textured. Some I've mixed up. And then, these ones are kiekie.

"Kiekie is interesting because it bleaches in the sunlight and goes quite white when you weave it. It's wonderful and strong, makes good woven kete, and is really quite unusual."

Paper from an ancient plant

It's easy to catch her awe for the ancient harakeke plant, now providing a canvas for new photographic work.

"I just love flax. It's such a wonderful medium. It's strong. See this flax over here? It's just beaten by the weather but it's resilient."

Tito waves a tattooed arm in the direction of several large clumps. Bands of blue-black ink weave around her wrists and ankles. These, too, carry stories.

"My legs are about the connection to the land and the importance of the land to my people. I rarely wear shoes."

She knows of no one else doing what she does, but 'possibly, soon, they might, if they hear about it,' she laughs. "But that's neat. I think it's great if people go off and try it."

A flax paper bowl and cards: Image Puke Ariki Pictorial Collection.

A paper maker now

Tito began learning how to make paper a decade ago in Rotorua, but it took seven more years and three well-run workshops, before she really caught the bug. It's fun, she warns, but a lot of work.

"It's a long process but the actual making of it takes just a few seconds. Like weaving, it's the preparation that goes on beforehand that takes the time."

First the flax is cut from the plant and chopped into small pieces to be boiled in water for about three hours. Then it's blended into pulp.

Next, pulp is put into clean water and pulled through a mesh screen to scoop up the fibres. These fibres are turned out and left to dry.

The result is usable - and wonderfully variable - sheets of wholly organic paper, which can be fed through a coloured printer and capture photographic images.

"I have a guy who does my printing," Tito explains. "When I first went to him, he was really open to the idea."

Parihaka and other plans

In 2005, Tito exhibited in Gisborne, where her collection of prints and cards was well received. In March 2006 she is heading for the Parihaka Peace Festival.

"After Parihaka?" Tito looks far into the distance, over the tops of trees and down to the sea. A young kauri tree raises his head to the sky.

"I've got an exhibition that I'm throwing together; of perhaps six women aged 20 to 70s, to allow them to tell their stories. Some may have survived cervical cancer."

As a contracted women's health worker, Tito's specialty is cervical screening. She knows that for Māori women, these things are often too difficult to talk about. She hopes to be allowed to capture their stories on film.

"Cervical screening is invasive. The whole idea of the exhibition is to use a different medium. It's more about holistic health and perceptions. These won't be just portraits, but different photographs of them in their own environment."

A rack of rocks: Image Puke Ariki Pictorial Collection.

Rocks and new roads

Tito also paints rocks and yearns to find a way to get her images onto even more ancient material.

"Yes, I'd like to get my photos onto rocks. That would keep them organic, too. There is a process, a blueprint process that uses natural light. A little like a stencil. I'm quite interested in that."

She adds, "I like painting big, although I paint on rocks, which is small. But it's nice to have some movement in the brush. I do like painting, but it's more of a therapeutic thing. I just paint. It's instinctive."

A personal statement

Her motto has evolved over time. "Creations to inspire, uplift and heal." It's become a personal mission statement, and when asked where she expects her art to take her, Tito replies softly:

"This is definitely a journey, and it's more about the journey than the destination. I do have goals, but at the end of the day, it's not really about them.

"My art is my voice, my way of speaking. I guess it's like my ancestors - we speak for the land. It's a wonderful way for me to tell my story.

"I want to be able to inspire people, for my work to have an effect on people and not just be another photo. I want to conjure up some emotions. That's what I want."