Making in the dark : a South Sea archive : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree Master of Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This exegesis will address Australian South Sea identity through the lens of contemporary art. It will discuss Moana Nui a Kiwa as the waterway which is both connection to land and people of Oceania but also as slave trade middle passage. My practice looks at the vessel as the birth place of a new culture that I claim as my own cultural medium. The vessel also takes place as human form with the South Sea female body is an archive and a site of resistance.