Biography

Gordon graduated in 1983 from the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua, winning the Sir Henry Kalliher Student of Honour Award for his talents. In the mid-1990s he earned Top Warrior status after a long training in Māori disciplines, and he is a role model for Māori youth through his support of rehabilitation projects at schools. A noted woodcarver who designed and carved traditional meeting houses, including the Auckland University meeting house Tane-nui-a-rangi, he is most known as a ta moko artist. He began studying ta moko (traditional Māori body art) in 1995 and has become internationally renowned since releasing his book Dedicated by Blood (with Dutch/Indonesian photographer Patricia Steur), which captures his indigenous tattooing in photos. Gordon has exhibited in several galleries in New Zealand and the Netherlands.