Sofia Tekela-Smith (born 1960) is a New Zealand artist specialising in jewellery and body adornments.[1] Her work is held in the permanent collections of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[2][3]

Life

Tekela-Smith was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1970 to Meriama Sauitu, who was from the island of Rotuma, and John Smith, from Glasgow, Scotland. Tekela-Smith and her brother were raised on Rotuma by their maternal grandmother Mue Tekela until her death in the early 1980s, when they returned to Auckland to live with their mother.[1][4]

Tekela-Smith's jewellery uses traditional materials such as bone, shell and stone. She first exhibited in 1993 in Tufa'atasi, a fashion show at the International Festival of the Arts in Wellington. In 1996 her work was included in some group shows in Auckland and she also performed with Pacific Sisters at the Seventh South Pacific Festival of the Arts in Apia, Samoa.[4]

Her work has been exhibited in both solo and group shows including a show at Macleay Museum, University of Sydney in 1999; the 3rd New Zealand Jewellery Biennial at Auckland Museum in 2000; and the exhibition Pacific Adornment at Te Papa in 2002. Her jewellery has also been shown in Germany, at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, and in New York.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Gifford, Adam (7 November 2008). "The spirit of motherhood". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Sofia Tekela-Smith". Auckland Art Gallery. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Sofia Tekela-Smith". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  4. ^ a b Simpson, Peter (Autumn 2005). "Adornment as Re-Appropriation: The Art of Sofia Tekela-Smith". Art New Zealand. No. 114. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
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