Sandy Adsett is known for giving new voice to customary Māori art forms. The koru (unfurling fern frond) is the focus of much of his work, and he often makes reference to elements of te taiao, the natural world in which humankind is enmeshed.
In 1961, he joined Gordon Tovey in the Department of Education’s Advisory Service, going on to lecture in Tairāwhiti Polytechnic’s Toihoukura Māori art programme, alongside Sir Derek Lardelli and Steve Gibbs. In 2002, he set up the Toimairangi School of Māori Visual Culture within Te Wananga o Aotearoa, in Heretaunga Hastings.
He is a member of Te Ātinga (Committee of Contemporary Māori Visual Arts) of Toi Māori Aotearoa and is on the board of Te Waka Toi, the Maori Arts Board of Creative New Zealand. He received the Order of New Zealand in 2005. In 2020, he was made an Arts Foundation Icon.
