About
Tūī Diprose (Tangata Tiriti) is a queer, multi-disciplinary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, weaving a contemporary jewellery practice of 11+ years with installation, herbalism and healing, alongside working as an intuitive holistic health practitioner of 16+ years.
Tūī’s creative practice explores Te Taiao or the natural world, ritual, talisman and installation. Within their practice, Tūī explores the relationships between inner and outer landscapes: how psyche, body, place and spirit might be seen through intuitive, ritualised making. Tūī honours each the craft of each material through a practice of artistic dialogue and ritual.
Tūī holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Otago Polytechnic, and a Diploma in Jewellery from Hungry Creek School of Art and Craft. Tūī has completed HANDSHAKE8, a two-year creative mentorship programme under an international mentor.
They have exhibited nationally and internationally across Aotearoa and Australia, including Nelson Jewellery Week, Radiant Pavilion International Contemporary Jewellery Biennale, Clink Project 7, Handshake8, group and solo shows across Aotearoa.
Tūī approaches their bodywork & herbalism practice with deep reverence, tending to each person holistically. Their massages are therapeutic, grounding, intuitive and restorative. Tūī’s massage treatments focus on healing the nervous system through promoting states of deep restfulness, while relieving patterns of pain and tension within the body.
Tūī received a Bachelor in Visual Art from Otago Polytechnic (2019-2020) after completing a Diploma in Jewellery from Hungry Creek School of Art and Craft (2014-2017), working with jewellery tutors Andrea Daly, Shane Hartdegen, and Andrew Last.
Tūī studied Holistic Massage Therapy with Nicky O'Connor, a Diploma in Aromatherapy with Annie Prince, and a Diploma in Yoga Therapy with Dr Pooja Maddela and Dr Sridhar Maddela, at Wellpark College of Natural Therapies between 2010-2012.
Tūī studied Rongoā Māori at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in 2019 with the late Emaraina Mihaere and Potikai Schaumelle, deepening their studies in 2022 with Awhitia Mihaere, working with mātauranga māori, native plant herbalism and indigenous spirituality.
Tūī has a Diploma in Herbal Medicine (2025-2026) after completing a shamanic herbalism apprenticeship with Amy McComb, deepening their work with native and wild plants.
Tūī creates holistic spaces centred around nurture, healing, embodiment and empowerment; they are passionate about earth-based, community driven, nourishing practices to remember our wholeness.
“All beings are part of a deeply interconnected ecosystem; not separate from each other, but are extensions of and kin to the earth itself.”
Exhibitions
2025
Rituals. Solo Show at RM Gallery. Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
Nelson Jewellery Week. Whenua of Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Rārua, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Rangitāne o Wairau:
LickyLicky, a queer collective of artists. Nelson City Framers, Whakatū Nelson, Aoteaora New Zealand.
Materialise: Handshake8. The Refinery, Whakatū Nelson, Aoteaora New Zealand.
2024
BODIES OF WATER. Materialise: HANDSHAKE8. The Arts House Trust, Pah Homestead, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
Allsorts: Radiant Pavilion International Contemporary Jewellery Biennale. Kindred Cameras Gallery. Land of Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung Peoples of the Eastern Kulin. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
2023
Proof of Concept: HANDSHAKE8. Depot Artspace, Ngāti Whātua iwi land, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
2021
Kauri and Tohorā: Indigenous Healing for Anthropocene Grief. Studio One Toi Tū, Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei iwi land:
2020
Clink Project 7: Viral. Dowse Museum, Te Atiawa iwi land: Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington: Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
Creating with Kauri. Kauri Museum, Te Uri o Hau of Ngāti Whātua land: Matakohe, Aoteaora New Zealand.
Anthropocene Grief: Indigenous Healing Methodologies. SITE Graduate Show, Otago Polytechnic Dunedin School of Art, Ngāi Tahu iwi land: Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aoteaora New Zealand.
2019
Clink Project 6 @ Radiant Pavilion International Contemporary Jewellery Biennale. Percy Grainger Museum. Land of Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung Peoples of the Eastern Kulin. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
2018
Grandmother’s Healing Shrooms. Private Collection, Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Rārua iwi land: Motueka Valley, Te Wai o Pounamu, Aotearoa New Zealand.
2017
Situate. Hungry Creek Art and Craft School Graduate Show, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
2017
Artweek. NorthArt, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
2016
Hungry Creek Art and Craft School Graduate Show, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.
2015
Hungry Creek Art and Craft School Graduate Show
Red Queen. Private Collection. Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Solace and Shadow. Private Collection. Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aoteaora New Zealand.