ALBERT AWANUI HAMON™

Albert Awanui Hamon™ is a diverse multi-disciplinary artist. From painting realism and surrealism through to carving wood, bone, pounamu or vast murals, he is at home in any artistic environment.

"What I learnt from my father Rei was not only the discipline of fine arts but to

have compassion for all lifeforms and our interconnection with the universe."

BIOGRAPHY:

Matua - Rei Paul Francis Hamon CBE, Māmā - Maia Pohoiwi.

Second child in the whānau - Joseph, Awanui, Phyllis and Tina.

Tribal Affiliation - Ngāti Porou. Lived along the Thames Coast on the Coromandel Peninsula NZ. 

Completed Commercial Art Course through correspondence with the Australian Art Training Institute Melbourne. 

Created 4 beautiful tamariki - Huia, Francis, Azalia and Jason.

Albert Awanui Hamon™ has travelled throughout his home country of Aotearoa (NZ) through Australia, Asia and South America including the Amazon. While travelling to the United States of America he visited 11 states from Los Angeles to Miami, Bahamas, Mexico and Hawaii.  He has a lifelong love for love surfing, sailing and rugby.

Albert Awanui Hamon™ has been part of the art gallery world and a pou (stronghold) for the family business 'Rei Hamon Gallery' and Hamon Art NZ. He has been organizing art exhibitions for his father Rei and his own work throughout Aotearoa (NZ) and Australia and continued to do this till his father retired as an artist.

After managing the gallery in Thames, his family moved to Timaru and worked as Art/ Bone carving and Ceramic Tutor for Aoraki Youth Trust where he helped re-design and set up Motueka and Timaru Museum Natural History, Māori and Early European settlement sections.

The NZ Government commissioned him to design and complete a large multi-disciplinary piece titled “Aoraki Family” for the new Social Welfare Dept building in Timaru, a mix of wood, shell and paint methods.

He was elected to Represent Kai Tahu (South Island Māori Tribe) and Royal Forest and Bird Society to make recommendations to Government to create Marine Parks and worked with Timaru Council to establish a Marae and help with planning stages.  Heading back to the North Island, he settled back in Hauraki (Thames) close to his parents and tutored bone carving at Thames High School. He also tutored at Matai Whitu Marae at Kopu in Art design and bone carving.

In Rotorua Awanui was “Artist in residence” at Rotorua Boys High School teaching in all areas of arts from year 9 to year 13 for 7 years. He designed and implemented Māori Art Courses into RBHS Curriculum which were taken on by other NZ Secondary Schools. Through Secondary school government nomination, he was selected to be part of a Māori Teacher Hui to identify new initiatives and strategies to improve Māori student education in Secondary Schools.  He became Head of the Art Department at RBHS and finished teaching to travel.

During all this time Albert Awanui Hamon™ was a practising artist holding exhibitions and doing commissioned artwork.

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Now a published author of 'Ozzma and Kauai' series 'The Jade Hook' and 'The Forbidden Wave', he is truly diverse as an artist and writer.

Rei and Albert Awanui Hamon™ have donated many originals and limited edition lithographs of their own artworks to raise funds throughout Aotearoa for many conservation charities, fundraising to save several species of birds that are endangered especially the Kōkako and the native Dotterel. This is a  lifelong passion of both Awanui and his late father Rei. Awanui continues to advocate this through his current works.

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Albert Awanui Hamon™ has travelled Australia where he is currently working on a series of Australian birds and Natural features. The Wedge-tailed Eagles is a part of this series (see his artworks) and these will feature in his next exhibition.

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