This event, and the politics of Europe during the 1960s, had a profound effect on Hotere's work, notably in the Sangro series of paintings.

In some works, strips of colour are placed against stark black backgrounds in a style reminiscent of Barnett Newman.

[6] A slight change has been made in the wording of the proverb, replacing haramai (transfer, pass over) to ara mai (the path forward), possibly indicating the cleared pathway of bare wood in front of the boat's burnt prow.

[citation needed] In 1992, Hotere transformed the RKS Gallery in Wellington with an exhibition utilising kilometres of number 8 wire.

[8] Written and directed by Merata Mita, the documentary made its overseas debut at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

His second wife was artist and poet Cilla McQueen, whom he married in 1973, and with whom he moved to Careys Bay near Port Chalmers in 1974.

[10] Hotere died on 24 February 2013, aged 81 and was survived by his daughter Andrea, three mokopuna (grandchildren) and also his third wife Mary.

Hotere's former studio was on land at the tip of Observation Point, the large bluff overlooking the Port Chalmers container terminal.

When the port's facilities were expanded, part of the bluff was removed, including the area of Hotere's studio (after strenuous objection from many of the town's residents).

[11] Other sculptors with work in the garden include Russell Moses, Shona Rapira Davies, and Chris Booth.