Israel Tangaroa Birch

Israel graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design degree from the Eastern Institute of Technology in Napier, New Zealand. He is currently studying for his Master of Māori Visual Arts at Massey University in Palmerston North. Israel’s mixed-media works using a unique lacquer finish have earned him considerable attention and recognition from both his contemporaries and collectors in recent exhibitions, including “Kiwa-Pacific Connections” (2003) in Vancouver, Canada.

Excerpt from Manawa—Pacific Heartbeat, 2005.