CERISSE PALALAGI

Cerisse Palalagi is of Niuean and Maori (Te Arawa) descent and works primarily in the mediums of print, painting and drawing. Cerisse exhibits regularly in

 Cerisse Palalagi, 'Current Exhibtion'

'Current Exhibtion' Whitespace Gallery

Aotearoa and abroad and has recently participated in the 10th Pacific Arts Festival (2008) in Pago Pago, American Samoa.

Cerisse's international exhibitions include Squeak Toy Animals (2006), Wisconsin, USA and Pocahontas meets Hello Kitty (2007) at the Richard F Brush Art Gallery, St Lawrence University, New York. These exhibitions provided Cerisse with the opportunity to locate her works alongside a global collective of artists addressing indigenous issues.

In 2007 Cerisse collaborated with artist Natalie Couch in the exhibition Manu at Artstation. In response to the Pocahontas meets Hello Kitty exhibition, which explored popular feminine characters of indigenous women, the pair produced a series of mixed media screen prints based on the iconic ‘Manu' souvenir doll. They freed Manu of her characteristic kapa haka costume and presented a new, fresh, ‘down with the brown' Manu sporting puffy afros, lavalava, sunnies and cheong sam dresses. Re-instilling the mana of this kiwiana icon and stereotype allowed the artists to reflect on their favoured childhood toy and honour the diversity of contemporary Maori and Pacific women. Presented like photographs in a typical Pacific living room they are reflections of cousins, friends, sisters and mothers, the modern day Manu's.

Cerisse Palalagi, 'Tuapa'
 'Tuapa'

Cerisse's Pago series explores contemporary Niue in a colorful hybrid of lavalava prints. The pan-pacific lavalava with contemporary portraits of her cousins screen printed over the top, speak of a new generation of Niueans equipped with iPods, bebo pages and txt2000. Through layers of drawing and screen printing Cerisse alludes to the engrained cultural knowledge of each subject. Monuina a portrait of her cousin with his characteristic long hair, styled into afro puffs, accompanied by text ‘Tuapa Savage' reflect the booming tshirt industry where ‘reppin it hard' for Niue is more than the photographs on the wall but now a tshirt on your back. 

In solo exhibition Ranea (June 2007) at Fresh Gallery, Otara, Cerisse digitally re-worked 19th century postcards of the exotic ‘Maori Beauty'. Placed on atamira (traditional Maori platforms of offering) the women were re-presented as the seven sisters of Matariki, adorned with full-length korowai and admired as cultural vessels of knowledge.

Cerisse is currently studying towards her Masters of Visual Arts and Design at Auckland University of Technology after graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam in 2000. Recent group exhibitions include Strengthening Sennit (2008) at St Paul St Gallery, Auckland, Flat White Black Pearl (2008) Te Karanga Gallery, Auckland and Cultural Collision (2004) at Te Wananga o Aotearoa.