Postcolonialism and the paintings of Shane Cotton.

By Cara Fotofili

An analysis of the work of Shane Cotton in relation to Post Colonial

theories will give us an understanding of the connotations of the
signs in the paintings when interpreted in this context. Issues of
representation, ethnicity and hybridisation are more specific
aspects of post colonial theory relevant to these works that I will
consider. The domination of foreign countries by mostly European
powers has had a negative effect on the peoples that have been
colonised, suppressing their culture and representing them as
inferior. Post colonial theory examines how cultures that have been
colonised recover, develop and change in response to the impact of
colonisation and I will examine this in relation to Aotearoa/New
Zealand.

Problems related to representation were pointed out by Edward

Said, who introduced the idea of Orientalism into post colonial
studies. He argued that 'The Orient' was constructed from the
perspective of Western superiority with its inherent racism and
imperialism (Barker. 2000) and that the Orient was represented as

the binary opposite of the West ('The Occident'). Negative and

essentialist stereotypes of Orientals as possessing attributes which
were antithetical to those desired in the West were constructed to
impose colonial domination. (Denyer). Said called for a more
objective view of colonised peoples without generalisation, without
greed as motive, and without racial and religious prejudices. Other
post colonial thinkers, such as Frantz Fanon, agree that those that
are marginalised as a result of oppression by colonial powers have
to struggle to define what they are and overcome the belief in the
inferiority that has been imposed upon them. He states, My Negro
consciousness does not hold itself out as a lack. It is. It is its own
follower (Fanon. F. 1986 cited in Connor 1989).
Other theorists such as Gayatri Spivak and Homi Bhabha argued
that using the 'margin' (colonised people) and the 'centre'(colonial
power) as binary opposites is part of colonial thought and
suggested that as such they should be be deconstructed.

Gayatri Spivak contributed ideas as to how to bring the

marginalised into the centre. She is known for the concept of
'strategic essentialism' (Kilburn. 1966) which she appears to have
derived from the view Jacques Derrida introduced where he put
concepts 'under erasure'. In Spivak's words Since the word is
inaccurate, it is crossed out. Since it is necessary, it remains

legible. (Barker. 2000). When applied to essentialism, Spivak

contends that although essentialism is bad, it can be used
strategically to dismantle unwanted structures (Barker. 2000).
Her 'strategic essentialism' meant temporarily putting the
heterogeneity of the colonised people aside so that the essential
nature of the group can have a voice.

Homi Bhabha developed the already existing concept of hybridity.

Historically, the idea of hybridity has had negative connotations as
a term of abuse for those of mixed breeding (Mitchell 1997;
Werbner 1997 as cited in Meredith 1998). In Bhabha's view
however the concept of hybridity is seen as a privileged stance in
between two cultures. He believes that a new identity emerges
from the interweaving of two cultures, and has stated that, all
forms of culture are continually in a process of hybridity
(Rutherford 1990 cited in Meredith 1998). Part of the process of
hybridisation takes place at the time of colonisation when the
colonised people's culture is suppressed and the culture of the
colonising power is imposed on them. As the postcolonial
reclamation of the precolonial form of culture takes place, a new
identity is formed which draws from both cultures. (Denyer)
In Aotearoa/New Zealand the Maori population was traumatised by

colonisation by European settlers in the late 18th and early 19th

century. This may best be demonstrated by considering that before
the arrival of James Cook in 1769, the Maori population stood at
between 100,000 and 200,000. By 1896 there were only 42,000
Maori left. This decimation was mainly caused by the introduction
of disease and from warfare involving Maori and European settlers
contesting the settlement of land, after the introduction of
firearms. The land wars were not only Maori v Pakeha, but often
involved Maori who wanted to sell land joining with Pakeha against
Maori who wanted to retain their ownership of land.(Burgoyne.
1993).
'The British have gone through the same process with the
Maori people. They

introduced, without forethought, firearms

and alcohol to them, which, together

with disease, served to kill

over half of the population. Then, under the guise of

religion and

the great work of God, they taught the Maori doctrines that
destroyed their religion, art, language, leaving them a void.
Marissa Burgoyne (1993)
There remains still the polarities of 'us' and 'them' in new Zealand
society, premised on exclusion and purity (Meredith, 1998).
Meredith calls for the rethinking of Maori/Pakeha relationships
where both cultures can interact and compliment one another and

where a diversity of issues are considered such as race, class,

location and gender. He cites the concept of hybridity introduced
into postcolonial theory by Bhabha as a model for the development
of cultural politics in Aotearoa/New Zealand. (Meredith. 1998).
An analysis of the signs in the works of Shane Cotton reveals many
connotations relating to issues of postcolonial thought. Shane
Cotton is of Irish /Maori descent, and spent most of his early life in
a predominantly Pakeha Lower Hutt, but his childhood holidays
were spent in Northland where his links to his Ngapuhi iwi were
strengthened. (Strongman. 2003. p.16). His artistic journey began
in the late 1980's at a time when postcolonialism had already
begun to challenge the ideology of modernism and when the
cobwebs were dusted off non-conformist art which was
subsequently reassessed and elevated, art such as Marcel
Duchamp's urinal for example (Barret. G. 2002). A decade later the
150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi heralded
a keynote in postcolonial issues and the opportunity for artists,
particularly Maori, to take part in prompting a process of redress
and of demanding answers to questions about their grievances for
past and present oppression by colonial powers (French. B. 2004.
p.98)

Shane Cotton's work is crammed with signs that connote

rediscovering Maori culture and of the hybridisation of Maori and
Pakeha. In his work from 1993 to 1995 we see many images
appropriated from the Maori folk art of the mid 19th Century. At
this time missionaries who considered traditional Maori carvings to
be grotesque were encouraging Maori to replace them with
figurative European styles of painting. Examples of this are seen at
the meeting house at Rongopai, the home of TeKooti's Ringatu faith
(Appendix 1). In Faith (1993) (Fig 1) we see a pot plant image
reminiscent of those from Rongapai, curiously juxtaposed with the
word faith which has been appropriated from a painting by the
Latvian-Australian painter Imants Tillers(Fig 2), who had in turn
appropriated it from U.S. pop artist Ed Ruscha. The decorative
diamond shapes in the plant are also borrowed from the Tillers
painting, as Cotton recognised this as a symbol used by Rua
Kenana, a Maori spiritual leader. The meanings connoted from the
same images as they travel down this path of various
appropriations change according to the context, and when they
arrive at the work by Shane Cotton they are imbued with a hybrid
postcolonial Aotearoa New Zealand flavour. (Strongman.L 2004).
Along with other works painted at this time, Whakapiriatu te
whenua (1993. Fig 2), Artificial Curiosities (1993. Fig 3) and

Needlework (1993, Fig4) we see signs that can be interpreted as

representing early colonial New Zealand and the oppression of
Maori. There are the flags including that with the star and moon
symbol of the Maori flags of rebellion against the crown
(Strongman 2004. p.18). There are cooking pots, Roman numerals,
Christian crosses and fish hooks. Robert Janke (2004) states The
pot plant emerged as a critical ideographic image encapsulating
the notion of control afforded by the land contained and growth
restrained.
In the works from 1999 onwards, most of the backgrounds turned
black. Against this blackness appear images of birds, concentric
circles of colours, Maori heads reminiscent of ghoulish trophies in
European museums, layers of colour that remind one of those little
glass bottles with striations of different coloured sand, and text.
These works appear to show the abandonment of any attempt to
control the narrative (Barr. J &M 2004).

The blackness in these works could have numerous connotations

but could certainly be interpreted in a New Zealand context as Jim
and Mary Barr suggest for rugby, New Zealander's bleed black
in the sense that it has become a New Zealand pennant colour.
(Barr. J&M 2004). Many of these later works of Shane Cotton's
appear to address the hybridity of spirituality, and black is

associated closely with both Christian and Maori spiritual tradition.

This is also seen in the works of other New Zealand artists such as
Colin McCahon and Ralph Hotere.
In Broken Water (2003. Fig.5) we see the often repeated motif in
Cotton's work of a sketchy rendering of Jesus, taken from the only
image in the the wharenui of his iwi at Ngawha, which was an
artists watercolour rendering of the famous image of Jesus (Fig. 6)
in St Faith's church at Ohinemutu on the shore of lake Rotorua.
This image shows the epitome of bi-spiritual process in that Jesus
is depicted as Maori and wearing a feather cloak, appearing to
walk on water out of the lake as you view it on the glass of the
church window. Opposite the figure of Jesus is a Maori head (upoko
tuhituhi) with bright blue decoration. Beneath these images is a
bright white airbrushed 'neon tube' . To the left is are concentric
circles of colour which are repeated many times in Shane Cotton's
work, perhaps representing the Maori cyclic concept of time. Lara
Strongman describes the word painted on the bottom of this work
as Takauere, which means variously: the Maori word for the puriri
tree, a type of seaweed that can be translated as 'broken water'
and the name of the taniwha ( a being that can be protective or
dangerous depending on local tradition) that lives under Lake
Omapere, a place of significance for Ngapuhi.(Strongman 2004.

p.15 16). (Note: It's hard for me to see that this is what the word
says). We can see that the signs in this work have numerous
associations with Maori and Pakeha stories, and are open to many
interpretations by the viewer.

The works of Shane Cotton are generously inundated with

postcolonial symbolism relating to the hybridity of Maori and
Pakeha Aotearoa/New Zealand. Recurring images appear which
Maori have appropriated from the colonising power while others
reinforce the rediscovery and affirmation of ownership of their
traditional culture. While there is a long way to go, New Zealand
could be considered to have made considerable headway in the
process of creating a bi-cultural society as we see the Maori
language, spirituality and cultural practices become part of both
Pakeha and Maori Aotearoa /New Zealand, and it's not unrealistic
to imagine a time when we forget the New Zealand part and
become Aotearoa.