Tui Hobson

Hobson is of Cook Islands and New Zealand European descent with family from Rarotonga and Atiu.^[5] When young she observed her father, Ken, a teacher, sculptor and wood craftsman, and her mother, grandmother and aunt, weavers and tivaevae artists.^[6][2][1][7] Her father had a joinery factory in Newtown that she would visit after school.^[6] Hobson's career is inspired by her father's work and assisted by the tools, chisels and other materials her father left to her after he died.^[8][7]

Hobson's artistic career as a sculptor and artist^[3] began in the 1990s with her teaching herself carving techniques.^[1] She is one of the first female carvers of Cook Islands descent.^[1][5]

Her practice has been consistent across three decades,^[3][4] but was particularly active up until 2014 when she travelled more frequently.^[9] As of 2025^[update] she is based in Auckland as a full-time carver and artist,^[9] and has completed a total of over 75 exhibitions, both solo and collaborative, artist talks, and public and private commissions.^[3][4] Hobson takes inspiration from her Cook Island heritage engaging with tivaevae patterns from her grandmother's weaving, and implementing themes of climate change, environmental awareness, migration and navigation.^{[3][4][10][1]}

Her media include various native woods like tōtara, kauri, rimu, pōhutukawa, and mātai for their grain, story and finish, and macrocarpa for outdoor works.^[11][8] However she also works with stone, cast glass and bronze for pieces of smaller and larger scales.^[3][4] The forms and shapes she works with are influenced by modernists Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth; however, there is also a feminine influence to her forms seen in her carved female nude figure reliefs.^[3][10]

In 2008, Hobson did an artist residency at Kaoshiung Museum in Taiwan to contribute to Le Folauga (a showcase of contemporary Pacific art).^[1]

In 2018, she completed a six-week residency for Rangimarie Gardens in Le Quesnoy, Northern France. This project is one of her most notable international commissions involving carved seats for the Le Quesnoy gardens, specifically the Rangimarie commemorative garden.^[2][3][4] The garden is dedicated to New Zealand soldiers who fought in the First World War and her commission was on the centennial of the end of the war.^[3][4][1]

In 2025, Hobson was the fourth recipient of the Pasifika Aniva Arts Residency.^[3] The three-month paid residency was organised by Pātaka Art+Museum, Creative New Zealand, Govett-Brewster Gallery and the Len Lye Centre and contributed to Creative New Zealand's Pacific Arts Strategy for 2023–28.^[3]

Her sculptural outcome of the project was a pou dedicated to wāhine toa titled Wairaka Pou.^[3] Wairaka, an ancestral figure, is honoured in the piece as it tells the story of her travels from Ma'uke to the Cook Islands and New Zealand saving women and children stranded on a waka and embracing the opportunity to paddle it, an otherwise tapu activity.^[3] The piece was housed in Pātaka where she gave an artist talk on the work.^[3]

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  Reclining Form at Akoranga Bus Station
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• Martin Hughes Contemporary Pacific Art Award 2004 winner^[22] for Frangipani. Hobson used her winnings to reconnect with family in the Cook Islands and network with other artists whilst there.^[1]
• National Contemporary Art Award 2025 finalist.^[23]

• In 2007, she carved Reclining Form at the National Wood Sculpture live event.^[8]
• In 2009, Hobson was one of 30 in the biennale National Wood Sculpture live event where she participated and carved in the 10-day challenge.^[8]
• In 2018, she crafted a pou for the Auckland rehabilitation centre gardens.^[3][4]
• Artist Talk with Sylvia Marsters – Tui Hobson & Sylvia Marsters: Artists in Conversation – 22 February 2025, The Charlotte Museum, Auckland.^[24]

• Her practice was detailed in a journal article by Tryphena Cracknell titled "Wahine mau whao: a woman's hand to the chisel", published in a 2019 issue of Te Aute – Journal of Maori Art^[1], volume 1 pg. 46–59.^[25]