Bio
Fiona Pardington's work looks at the history of photography and representations of the body, taking in investigations of subject-photographer relations, medicine, memory, collecting practices and still life.
Fiona has been working in a still-life format within museums, recording taonga (Māori ancestral treasures) and other historic objects such as hei tiki (greenstone pendants) and the now extinct huia bird. In these works, she brings to a contemporary audience an awareness of traditional and forgotten objects. Her art practice occupies itself with both memory and mourning, and the ineffability of the photographic image. Her photographs demonstrate a mastery of analogue darkroom technique, and she is known for her deeply toned black-and-white images resulting from specialist hand printing.
Fiona is of Ngāi Tahu, Kati Mamoe and Scottish descent, and holds an MFA in photography from the University of Auckland. She has received many fellowships, residencies, awards and grants, including the Ngai Tahu residency at Otago Polytechnic in 2006, Frances Hodgkins Fellow in both 1996 & 97, Visa Gold Art Award 1997, and the Moet & Chandon Fellow (France) in 1991-92.
Born 1961 in Devonport, New Zealand, Fiona Pardington lives and works in Waiheke Island, New Zealand.