Since the 1970s, Judy Darragh has explored the tensions between high and low art, and the difference between what is tasteful or tacky. In the early 2000s, she turned her focus to the cheap plastic ware that had become ubiquitous in New Zealand. “Where once there was a second-hand shop, there is now a two-dollar shop – the 2-minute high from the $2.00 spend.” Here, that overwhelming artificial deluge is paralleled by another – a quivering shower of fluorescent objects raining down ‘like cats and dogs’.

(We do this, 12 May 2018 - 26 May 2019)

In Seta, Ane Tonga depicts the nifo koula, or gold tooth, of a family member in Aotearoa. For Tongan communities living outside Tonga, nifo koula is a way of remaining connected in memory to the islands; many receive their nifo koula in Tonga as a way of commemorating a trip. There is a gendered aspect to the role of nifo koula, as adornment worn by women. The gold used for the dental procedure is often sourced from old family jewellery, lending further layers of ancestral connection for the wearer.

While it has become a contemporary Tongan ‘tradition’, nifo koula also relates to transnational visual culture through its relationship to the metal grills, or tooth jewellery, of US hip-hop culture. Combined with the bold red lipstick and leopard print earrings, this image of nifo koula gives voice to an aspect of contemporary Tongan culture.

(Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, 6 August 2022- )