Angela Tiatia
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    Angela Tiatia, still from See, 2009. DVD. Image courtesy of the artist.

Angela Tiatia

28 June - 24 July 2010 in the Square² Gallery

A fish eye and a woman’s hair and hands feature centre stage in two performance based works by Angela Tiatia. The artist is interested in exploring the way that presence and absence of the body (or parts of the body) influences our reading of the work. These simple images operate symbolically to communicate the perceived ‘identity’ (cultural, sexual, narrative) of the film. 

In See (2008) a woman’s lips dominate the entire screen, gradually parting to reveal a fish eye, which disturbingly appears to look back at the viewer. Tiatia speaks of the fish as a key symbol in Pacific Island culture, representing the importance of the sea as a source of food, and of life. Being surrounded by the sea has meant that it plays a fundamental part in all island cultures, in relation to navigation, sustenance and creativity. In this context seafood is particularly respected and valued, and every piece of the fish is used and not wasted. While the staring fish eye is unnerving and confrontational, and some cultures regard it inedible and only worthy of throwing away, fish eyes are considered a delicacy to Pacific Islanders.

Tiatia made this work partially as a contemporary Pacific ‘reply’ to the well-known Surrealist short film Un Chien Andalou (1928), produced by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. (More specifically, she intends to continue the conversation by Yoko Ono and Vito Acconci in response to this film). In the early Surrealist work a woman’s eye is graphically severed by a man with a razor blade; in See the conflict continues to take on gendered terms, with a man’s hands forcibly opening the lips of the woman depicted. The artist writes ‘Although the video is silent, there is a sense of “I see you...I see everything you do and have done to me” which occurs between the eye and the viewer.’

Less literal, Ecologies (2009) focuses on two parts of the body as symbol, and expressive motif: the hair and hands. This work investigates ideas about femininity within the family unit and in Pacific culture, focusing on the relationship between three generations: mother, child and grandchild.

Angela Tiatia is an Auckland based artist, of Samoan and Pakeha background. She works in installation, video and performance, and is currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Visual Arts at Auckland University of Technology. Past screenings of See include Pan-Pacific Nation, Honolulu, Hawaii (2009); OFF-STAGE, Tautai Pacific Arts Trust screening at Galatos, Auckland, New Zealand (2009), and 100th Street Salon (a gallery space running for the duration of the annual Armory Art Fair, New York (2010). Past screenings of Ecologies include The Annual New Artist Show, ARTSPACE, Auckland (2009) and 100th Street Salon, New York (2010). Tiatia works as a presenter for TVNZ’s Tagata Pasifika programme.

Image: 

ANGELA TIATIA
28 June – 24 July 2010
See 2008 / Ecologies 2009
DVD
Duration: 3:40 minutes; 4:40 minutes, both looped
Courtesy the artist