A Long White Cloud; Niki HASTINGS-MCFALL; 2008; 1083
A Long White Cloud
About this objectA sculptural installation comprising nineteen standard lamps with shades. The shades are covered with white fabric and plastic hibiscus flowers. The sculpture recalls the Polynesian discovery of Aotearoa (long white cloud) and the Māori creation story, where Tane (god of the forest) creates trees (lamp stands) to hold apart the primordial parents (the earth mother, Papatuanuku, and sky father, Ranginui). The artist has used standard lamps as the basis of the installation in reference to domestic interior fashion in the 1950s, the period when her grandparents migrated from Samoa to New Zealand, and mass produced leis, which are associated with protocols of welcome within Pacific Island culture. In doing so, the artist questions the stereotype of Pacific Island peoples as recent migrants to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Maker Date Made2008
Medium and MaterialsMixed media
Place Made Subject and Association Keywords Subject and Association Keywords Subject and Association Keywords Subject and Association Keywords Subject and Association Keywords Subject and Association Keywords Subject and Association Keywords Subject and Association Keywords Credit LinePurchased from 'The Maui Dynasty: The Fifth Goodman Suter Contemporary Art Project' with the Goodman-Suter Fund in 2009
Object Type Object number1083
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