Cora-Allan Wickliffe
Love Letter to Niue
South British Insurance Company Limited Building Art Project
In association with TAUTAI and ARTTFORM
Cora-Allan Wickliffe, Love Letter to Niue, 2021, liquid acrylic. Photograph courtesy of the artist.
As a Hiapo maker (Niuean bark cloth) Cora-Allan Wickliffe is constantly moving between the past in present by using traditional patterns and materials as a contemporary practitioner.
Exploring aesthetics and experiences from time spent in Niue, Love Letter to Niue is inspired by traditional Hiapo overlaid with bold and whimsical injections of contemporary mark-making in painterly colour.
The artist’s motifs drawn from life in Niue are writ large. The colours capture the movement of sea life, the rainforests, cliffs and other colours drawn from nature. They are also selected to harmonise with the light and architecture of the Lobby.
Patterns reimagine the coming and goings of different Niuean generations who currently reside in Aotearoa and commute back to Niue to learn, connect and find their own sense of home.
The intention is to provide the viewer with a sense of immersion and engagement with space and place.
Cora-Allan Wickliffe is a multidisciplinary artist of Māori and Niuean descent who lives in Auckland. Her work often explores and examines constructed representations of Indigenous people.
She holds a Masters in Visual Art and Design in Performance, received an AUT Postgraduate Dean’s award for her research. Her work is held in museums and galleries across the world, including the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland War Memorial Museum and Te Papa Tongarewa. She was recently awarded the Colin McCahon House Residency.
