Shona Rapira Davies

Shona Rapira Davies (born 1951) is a Great Barrier Island-based sculptor and painter of Ngati Wai Māori descent. She first studied at the Auckland College of Education, majoring in art, and later in Dunedin at Otago Polytechnic, graduating with a Diploma in Fine Arts in 1983. In 1989 she was awarded the prestigious Frances Hodgkins Fellowship and a residency for indigenous artists at the Banff Centre of the Arts in Canada.[1]

She is well known for her landscape sculpture commission for Te Aro Park (also called Pigeon Park) in central Wellington.[2] The ceramic tile permanent work is considered one of New Zealand's most successful public sculptures.[3] Set in a narrow triangle of public space with adjacent busy roads and much foot traffic it is a very visible work.[4]

She exhibits widely; both as a sculptor and as a painter. Rapira Davies is interested in the empowerment of Māori women in spite of perceived racism (in a Pākehā culture) and sexism (within the patriarchal structure of Māori tribal organisation). She uses her art work to make declamatory statements about perceived injustices against Māori.[5]

Her works are held at Te Papa[6] and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki[7]

References

  1. ^ "prospect". telecomprospect2004.org.nz. 2011 [last update]. http://telecomprospect2004.org.nz/artist/rapiradaviesshona.asp. Retrieved 10 October 2011. "hona Rapira Davies originally made Raising the Taniwha, a series of small, wall-mounted ceramic figures, while on a residency for indigenous artists at the Banff Centre of the Arts in Canada." 
  2. ^ "Te Aro Park - Te Āti Awa of Wellington - Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand". teara.govt.nz. 2011 [last update]. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/te-ati-awa-of-wellington/5/3. Retrieved 10 October 2011. "Te Aro Park in central Wellington (between Manners and Dixon streets) marks part of the site of the major pā, Te Aro. The park, designed by ceramics artist Shona Rapira Davies, is in the shape of a canoe, with the prow on the extreme right of the photograph." 
  3. ^ "Bowen Galleries :: Artists Bio :: Shona Rapira Davies". bowengalleries.co.nz. 2011 [last update]. http://www.bowengalleries.co.nz/artists/bios/davies.php. Retrieved 10 October 2011. "From 1988 to 1992 Shona designed and completed Te Aro Park in Wellington, a major ceramic tile permanent work and considered one of New Zealand's most successful public sculptures." 
  4. ^ "A Cat Among the Pigeons". nzonscreen.com. 2011 [last update]. http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/a-cat-among-the-pigeons-1992. Retrieved 10 October 2011. "This doco follows the passionate, stroppy Rapira Davies, as she fights cost overruns, landscape architects and passersby, and for her vision (which involved handcrafting Te Aro park's 20,000+ ceramic tiles)." 
  5. ^ "Te Aro Park003". secure.flickr.com. 2011 [last update]. https://secure.flickr.com/photos/michaeldudding/116020494/. Retrieved 10 October 2011. "Walking over the names of Maori ancestors - revealing the disrespect with which they have been historically treated." 
  6. ^ "Davies, Shona Rapira - Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa". collections.tepapa.govt.nz. 2011 [last update]. http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/Party.aspx?irn=577. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
  7. ^ "Hauturu Hauturu - Auckland Art Gallery". aucklandartgallery.com. 2011 [last update]. http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/the-collection/browse-artwork/7952/hauturu-hauturu. Retrieved 10 October 2011. "Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki,"