Paratene Matchitt’s practice encompassed sculpture, drawing and painting. He was known for combining traditional Māori and modernist art forms. His work references events from Aotearoa New Zealand history, particularly the Māori prophetic movements of the 19th century such as Rātāna. 

The late Paratene Matchitt (born 1933, Tokomaru Bay, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāti Porou) attended St Peter’s Māori Boys College before graduating as a teacher from Auckland Teachers' Training College in 1956. He worked as an Arts and Craft Advisor for the South Auckland Education Board and took Māori Arts and Crafts courses at Ruatoria with Pine Taiapa. Exhibiting widely since 1961, he was best-known for his large-scale public sculptures such as Wellington’s City to Sea Bridge in 1993, and Auckland’s Aotea Centre in 1989. Matchitt lived and worked in Napier until his passing in 2021.