Te Tuhi Presents New Work By Aj Fata - DON'T DEEP IT

DON’T DEEP IT (27 July – 5 October 2024)

Commissioned by Papatūnga, Te Tuhi’s development programme for arts practitioners, DON'T DEEP IT is a new series of work by artist and curator Aj Fata (Ngāti Makirangi / Samoa) for the Te Tuhi Billboards.

It comprises of two playful series of airbrush images: a monochrome series located at Parnell Station, and a colour series located at Te Tuhi, in Pakuranga.

During a recent trip to Samoa, Fata developed what she describes as “an obsession” with their public transport system. She spent hours at the bus stop, studying the bold, colourful airbrush artworks that cover most of the public transport vehicles. Since returning to Aotearoa New Zealand, Fata has been exploring airbrush composition, colour, and techniques.

The title, DON’T DEEP IT, refers to an affirmation the artist repeated to herself as a mantra when making the new work, a reflection on the pressure artists feel to produce deeply meaningful artworks.

Fata encourages other artists who might feel stuck to embrace doubt and resist the desire to overthink when making art.

About the artist

Aj Fata (Ngāti Makirangi / Sāmoa) is an artist and curator based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Spanning a range of media including digital, printmaking, poetry and music, the backbone of her practice is Indigenous empowerment in te ao hurihuri.

Among her most recent projects are Wh/orce Whield, part of the exhibition Kare at Kūkāhiko Gallery, Napier (2024); Te Puku o te Taniwha at The Physics Room, Ōtautahi Christchurch (2023); The water tastes different here at Tautai, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland (2022). She participated to the Hononga X Aroha Residency with Hoea! Gallery (2024) and she is a member of the In*ter*is*land Collective, a tangata Moana, queer-led collective based in London and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Fata completed her studies in rūmaki reo Māori through Te Wananga Takiura o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa. Alongside her work as an artist and curator, she's also been exploring electronic music through the alias ajhoneysuckle.

About Te Tuhi

Te Tuhi is a leading platform for contemporary art in Aotearoa New Zealand, with a programme consciously and continually shaped towards rigorous, adventurous and socially engaged artistic experimentation. Based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Te Tuhi’s primary focus is on commissioning both national and international artists to make new work by creating stimulating contexts for them to respond to and work within. Te Tuhi offers artists and curators opportunities through development programmes, studios, awards, residencies, and internships both in New Zealand and overseas. Alongside the gallery in Pakuranga, Te Tuhi runs Parnell Studios and Project Space on the platform of Parnell Station and operates O Wairoa Marae in Howick.

Across multiple venues, Te Tuhi delivers a strong programme of community engagement, including public events integrated into its exhibition programmes, and provides formative art experiences for schools, young people, community groups and people of all backgrounds and ages. Te Tuhi runs Arts Out East, the community arts brokering for the Howick Local Board area in East Auckland, and Te Tuhi Café, Aotearoa’s first training café for people with intellectual disabilities. Te Tuhi is an independent charitable trust supported by Auckland Council and the Contemporary Art Foundation.

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