Alex Tūkariri Wong

Alex Tūkariri Wong is a descendant of Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi on his mother’s side, and Chinese, Irish, and Welsh heritage on his father’s side. He was brought up in Whangaroa, Te Tai Tokerau, and began his journey collecting Uku and natural pigments in late 2021. 

His practice continues to deepen from the matauranga shared amongst friends, kaumatua, books, online resources, and other fellow Ringa-uku 

Tikanga Māori lays at the foundations of Alex’s practice and is reflected in the way he intentionally upholds the interrelationships between whenua, iwi, hapu, and whānau. As a Ringa-uku, he acknowledges the realm of atua wahine as an integral source of his practice- 

“Papatūānuku, whose child was Hine-tūpari-maunga, the female atua of mountains, who gave birth to Parawhenuamea, the female atua of all waters and lastly Hine-ukurangi the great grandchild of Hine-tūparimaunga who embodies clays.”