Past Pacific: South Seas Folk: Niki Hastings-McFall

About the exhibition
New Zealand artist Niki Hastings-McFall began her career in the early 1990s, studying contemporary jewellery at the Manukau Institute of Technology in Auckland and graduating in 1993. From the outset, her work reflected her dual Samoan and Pākehā heritage. Over time, her practice has expanded into more sculptural forms, exploring ideas of ethnic hybridity and cultural stereotyping through the inventive use of everyday materials.

The works presented in this solo exhibition traced the artist’s layered genealogy, combining traditional materials such as shell, glass beads and bone with contemporary elements including metallic and celluloid surfaces, computer discs, uncirculated currency and perforated film stock.

Several key works were loaned from the Auckland War Memorial Museum, including Lei for George Westbrook, 1997—a necklace made from a hymn book, seeds from Pacific Islands and nylon fishing line.

MUMA Online Exhibition Archive
MUMA’s online archive is expanding. We welcome your feedback and input. Please contact muma.communications@monash.edu with any information that could help enrich the archive for future audiences.

^{Image: Niki Hastings-McFall, Nuclear Rosary Series: The Coming of the Light II, White Sunday 1999, white glow-in-the-dark flowers, Nanna's old rosary beads, glow-in-the-dark crucifix, sterling silver, hanging length 100 cm}