Ta Moko Plaque

This is my first from scratch 3D project. My original intent was to design a set of Kirituhi (similar to Ta Moko, Maori traditional tattoos) and apply them to a blank face mask for 3D printing, but I'm not quite there yet.

I started this project to feel more connected to my family history. My grandmother left New Zealand in 1945 after the war when she married my grandfather. While I know many of the Maori stories and have the genetics I wasn't raised Maori, don't speak the language and can't tell you off hand who I am related to beyond my grandmother's family. I'm an American culturally.

That said, while I call this piece the "Ta Moko Plaque" because it's a word even some non Maori know, the correct term would be Kirituhi (meaning "Drawn Skin") to describe this project.

I started with a sketch in Inkscape based on a diagram of Ta Moko from one of my grandfather's books. The book did not record the name of the man the Moko belonged to which is a real shame. If I knew who it was