Lily Aitui Laita (born 1969) is an artist and art educator in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Laita is of mixed

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non- Māori New Z ...

and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

ancestry (

Ngāti Raukawa Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupo and Manawatu/Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa. History Early history Ngāti Raukawa rec ...

), as well as of Samoan descent. Laita is known for using Māori, English and Samoan texts in her paintings.

Education

Laita graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the

Elam School of Fine Arts The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded by John Edward Elam, is part of the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Auckland. Students study degrees in fine art with an emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach. The schoo ...

in 1990, and completed her Masters in Painting in 2002. She taught at Wanganui Polytech and Western Springs College, Auckland.

Work

Laita's work straddles the figurative and the abstract and she is well known for large-scale paintings on various supports, from stretched canvas to black building paper. In a 1992 interview she described moving paint on the surface of her work with her hands. Asked in the interview 'So do you fit into a tradition?' the artist replied:

Tradition is what you do today. I paint on black builder's paper and there's this 'Oh my God it's on builder's paper!' In my immediate family my father makes concerete tanks, my mother's an industrial machinist and my brother's a bricklayer.

Helen Kedgley and Bob Maysmor, the curators of the 2008 exhibition ''Samoacontemporary'', describe Laita’s work as ‘layered with feeling – many of her paintings explore intense personal experiences and family histories. Laita often embeds words and phrases in her paintings, hinting at veiled knowledge and withheld information; she deliberately avoids overt messages in her work.’ Karen Stevenson writes of Laita's work, 'Her artistic practice has to do with creating a visual language that reflects the complexity of the oral traditions of the past.' Stevenson adds, 'As one would slowly build images in the mind's eye, Laita creates images that reveal; but only after the viewer has truly looked. Language, people and images of cultural knowledge emerge from what appears to be an abstract canvas.'

Vahine Collective

Lily Laita works collaboratively with artists

Niki Hastings-McFall Niki Hastings-McFall (born 1959) is a New Zealand jeweller and artist of Samoan and Pākehā descent. She has been described by art historian Karen Stevenson as one of the core members of a group of artists of Pasifika descent who brought conte ...

and Lonnie Hutchinson as the 'Vahine Collective'. In 2012 the group received the 2012

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets ...

and the

National University of Samoa The National University of Samoa (''Lē Iunivesitē Aoao o Sāmoa'') is the only national university in Samoa. Established in 1984 by an act of parliament, it is coeducational and provides certificate, diploma, and undergraduate degree programs, as ...

Artist in Residence. They spent one month in Samoa and built on research they began for their exhibition ''Vahine'' in 2002 on ancient rock platforms called tia seu lupe (pigeon snaring mounds).

Exhibitions

Laita has exhibited prolifically in New Zealand and internationally including '' Te Moemoea no Iotefa'' (1990/1991), '' Bottled Ocean'' (1993/1994) and ''Vahine'' (2003). She has been part of major group exhibitions including the ''Samoa Contemporary'' touring exhibition which opened at the Pataka Museum and Gallery in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

2008, followed by the Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui and Tauranga Art Gallery in 2009. She was part of ''This is not a Vitrine, this is an Ocean'' at

Waikato Museum Waikato Museum ( mi, Te Whare Taonga o Waikato) is a regional museum located in Hamilton, New Zealand. The museum manages ArtsPost, a shop and gallery space for New Zealand art and design. Both are managed by the Hamilton City Council. Outside ...

Te Whare Taonga o Waikato in 2011. In 2014, Laita's solo exhibition, ''Va I ta – Illumination'', opened at Whitespace in Auckland.

References

External links

Tautai Pacific artsTe Ara, The Encyclopedia of New ZealandWorks in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tonagrewa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laita, Lily 1969 births Living people New Zealand painters New Zealand women painters Ngāti Raukawa people Elam Art School alumni