Fayne Robinson

Fayne was born and raised in Hokitika (Te Tai Poutini) on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island. He graduated from the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua in 1984. After another four years as a graduate carver, he tutored in Hokitika before returning to Rotorua to further his knowledge of carving. Trained in wananga (traditional schooling), he is now developing his own contemporary style.

Fayne has contributed carving to eight wharenui (ancestral meeting houses). His works have been in New Zealand galleries and international collections and he participated in “Kiwa-Pacific Connections” (2003) in Vancouver, Canada. His peers have honoured him as “Te Toki Pounamu” (“The Greenstone Adze”) to acknowledge that his carving skills are an important treasure like the pounamu (jade). He has completed designing, carving and overseeing the carvings for his family marae (gathering place) Kaipo in south Westland in the South Island, which is the greatest honour for any carver.

Excerpt from Manawa—Pacific Heartbeat, 2005.