Messini Palace

Aronga Toi:  Ringatoi 

Iwi: Ngāti Apakura, Waikato Tainui, Ngāpuhi

Taonga: Whānau Ariki Cubes (Resin Tiki)

Kaupapa:

Messini Palace is of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Apakura, Waikato Tainui descent, She is a self-taught, experimental artist working primarily with resin and plaster. She is a self-sustainable practitioner who creates custom pieces from her studio in central Auckland. After living abroad for a long period,  her decision to return home and pursue her art practice aided in her reconnection and reclamation of identity as a wāhine Māori. 

Some of her projects are collaborations with carver Mike Matchitt- while Matchitt carves into the original blueprint mould, Messini casts resin sculptures from the carved moulds to create a final piece. A selection of Messini’s sculptures is inspired by souvenir pieces of the mid-century era, such as the tiki. This is her way of counter-critiquing trinkets sold to tourists, reclaiming the narrative of taonga tuku iho. Messini’s greatest influence is her whakapapa; many of her pieces represent important tūpuna or kaitiaki.