ROSANNA RAYMOND

Artist’s Statement:

The video piece is a poem, Sleeping with Mountains, and features a soundtrack by Tama Waipara and a karanga and poi beats by Taimania Jones.

I see my poetry as my ancient self talking with my modern self, making sense of who,what, where i am... Sleeping with Mountains is the kaupapa..the pathway of my hand malu, my malu a pledge to my Samoan ancestry that i will not forget and will uphold the mana of my cultural heritage.

Gallery Images:

Triptych Title: Fabra Kei Skin

Individual name of triptych images: 1) Beaten; 2) Twisted; 3) Flowing

Media: digital print.

Photography by: Kerry Brown

Digital Manipulation by: Matt Barron

Tapa Cloth courtesy of the Liverpool museum.

Bio:

Rosanna Raymond is a performance/installation/body adornment artist and writer. A New Zealand born Pacific Islander of Samoan descent, she is currently living and working in London, UK with her family. The driving force of the fashion spectacle Pasifika -The Fashion Show, she is also a founding member of the acclaimed Pacific Sisters performance art collective in New Zealand. A ‘Tusitala’ at heart, Raymond’s work takes a variety of forms ranging from installation works to spoken word to body adornment, with pieces held in gallery, museum and private collections around the world, including the Museum fur Volkerkunde, Germany, the Auckland Art Gallery, an the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia.

Raymond has forged a role over the past 15 years as a producer and commentator on contemporary urban Pacific Island culture, fusing traditional practises with modern innovations and techniques. During 2005 she was the Distinguished Visiting Artist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and is undertaking a residency in New York as well as a performance commissioned for the annual meeting of the Pacific Arts Association, in Salem, USA. Currently she is the official artist in residence for the CUMAA (Cambrige University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology)

www.pasifikastyles.org.uk

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