Light Speed Ahead: Carved Stories Back to the Future

Through storytelling and creative expression, Elliott centralises the practice of whakairo as an apparatus for mana wāhine storytelling and world-building through the hands of a wahine. Light Speed Ahead: Carved Stories Back to the Future takes the audience on a radical journey of resistance, self-determination, healing and well-being that celebrates Indigenous bodaciousness.

About Zena:

Zena Elliott (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Rangitihi, Te Whānau ā Haraawaka)
I was raised in Te Teko, Eastern Bay of Plenty, Aotearoa, New Zealand, on fresh fruit from the Neighbours' trees down Huia Crescent, Edgecumbe Te Teko road, and liquorice and raspberry Empire bars from the local Superette. Teds Spacey Parlour was my youth club, and watching and playing Street Fighter and Space Invaders taught me hand-eye coordination, problem-solving, strategic thinking, analytical skills and spatial awareness. Social skills are my kryptonite; however, where I lack in various social situations, my artwork engages audiences and communicates complex ideas I struggle to unpack verbally. My first masterpiece was spraypainted on the back wall of a Ministry of Works building just down the street from my home, “Ming was here”, and after the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake, I carved into a newly fresh layer of concrete footpath my grandiose public artwork “Zena”. After graduating from Huia Cresent, I was the first within my immediate whānau to study towards a bachelor’s degree in arts (1995). I became the first Māori at my place of study to graduate with a Master of Fine Arts with Distinction in (2006) and currently completing a Practice-led PhD. I had my first solo exhibition, ‘Pencil Neck,’ at a derelict building called the old Hamilton Hotel in Hamilton in (1999). I founded and co-founded artist-run initiatives such as Kitch n Sync, The Visual Assault Art Collective, Room 5, Platform 01 Contemporary Arts Space, Hamilton Contemporary Arts Trust and The Sleepout Project. I have exhibited in various public exhibitions selected shows, including Landmarks for the Landless, Corban Estate Gallery, Tāmaki Mākaurau (2023). Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2020). Whakaohooho at Papakura Gallery (2019). Pūhoro at Waikato Museum He Whare Taonga o Waikato in (2019). Hell on Wheels: Steve Gilpin Gallery, Hamilton (2001). Dirty Laundry: Kitch n Sync Artspace 467 Victoria Street Hamilton (2000). Hangin Tough: Trans – Tasman art exhibition: Steve Gilpin Gallery Hamilton (2001). Blow-Up Your Art: Platform 01 Contemporary Art Space (2003). Skools Out Forever: Platform 01 Contemporary Art Space (2003). One of three artists selected for the (2022) Artist in Residency program hosted by Te Matatiki Toi Ora, the Arts Centre, Ōtautahi Christchurch, and a (2024) RT Nelson Sculpture Awards Finalist and one of four Highly Recommended Award winners.