07/11/2024
First Thursdays Quarterly at Starkwhite Queenstown:
Cast in a rainbow of hues, Ani O’Neill’s crochet disks from her Cottage Industry series are part of Starkwhite's Spring Sampler exhibition. Referencing intersections of Pasifika heritage and place via abstraction and 20th century art history, O'Neill's practice uses wool, fabric, ribbon to make objects that use Cook Island handcraft skills to communicate the cultural values.
O'Neill's critically engaged, witty, colourful, yet provocative practice explores issues including Post-Colonialism, gender, identity, the art-craft divide, and tourism’s commodification of Pacific culture, drawing directly from her experience as someone of Pasifika heritage living in an urban New Zealand setting.
Image: Ani O'Neill, works from the Cottage Industry series 1997 – ongoing
