Seeing Pakeha: identifying and defining Pakeha art

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore the possibility of identifying a category of Pakeha art, within New Zealand art practice and history. Precisely how to identify and define such art is the major problem faced by this investigation. A reading of five key New Zealand artworks reveals a variety of ways in which they can be identified as P3keha art or indeed create such a category for other art to be likewise identified. A number of historians, sociologists, and pop-cultural commentators have all written on the subject of 'being Pakeha'. It is this work that forms the basis upon which such artistic identifications are made. In the body of this text it is uncovered that Pakeha art may be 'defined' by its period, a necessary relationship to Maori art and culture, through a sense of belonging expressed by the artist, via the use of 'imported' art materials and iconography, and finally by the exploration of content that is inherently Pakeha. Such findings, among others, come from the artworks themselves. While the frame of Pakeha art may be a construction it will appear to have a basis in already existent art. The conclusion of such an investigation is that there is a category of Pakeha art recognisable within New Zealand art practice, if not yet widely among New Zealand art historians.