| Artist Profile of Sofia Tekela-Smith |
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Sofia Tekela-Smith works with many art forms including jewellery, body adornment and large scale photography.
Tekela-Smith was born in New Zealand to a Scottish father and Rotuman mother. She lived in Rotuma (part of the Fijian group of islands) with her grandmother until the age of twelve, whereupon she returned to the country of her birth.
Tekela-Smith's art is closely related to her Polynesian heritage (Rotuma, unlike the other Fijian islands, is part of Polynesia), and she uses her jewellery as a means of reinforcing her connection to her family and culture. From her grandmother Tekela-Smith learned traditional women's handicrafts such as weaving, plaiting and the making of body adornments, and in her jewellery she makes use of materials often associated with Polynesia, such as the cowrie shell and mother of pearl. Tekela-Smith's family is also often woven - sometimes literally - into her work through the inclusion of poetry written by her partner, John Pule, and their son. Such aspects lend the work an intimacy and quiet beauty, as does their simple form.
Tekela-Smith is represented in many public and private collections including those of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Auckland, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, and the Grassi Museum, Leipzig, Germany.
Please contact the gallery for further information on available work.
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Selected works of Sofia Tekela-Smith
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