Senikau Portal

Priya Vunaki (Baddi Adi)

18 November 2022 – 22 October 2023

Courtyard, Contemporary Art Tasmania

Senikau (Fijian for Flower) ~ A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants.

Portal (English) ~ A doorway, gate, or other entrance, especially a large and imposing one.

            This work references my experience of engaging with the cultural institution and community of Contemporary Art Tasmania and its physical context within the noise of an industrial trade block in North Hobart. Senikau Portal speaks to concepts of access, barriers, opportunities and losses.

I use visual symbology from the gallery’s surrounds and merge this with my fascination with trade-grade objects and design. I have played with products such a LDPE plastic mesh barrier fencing, HI-VIS protective gear, alongside vibrant and sickly-femme colours, ornate chain and floral motifs to ultimately pull ecstatic energy into the space. The soft buckled cartoon daisy motif, the distorted mesh, chains and fencing play-off against the surrounding mundane industrial environment and the artistic institution of the gallery.                  – Priya Vunaki

Priya Vunaki is an artist, event organiser, creative producer and DJ. Their art practice is multidisciplinary, although it primarily takes form across drawing, mark-making, community event design and sound. Priya’s cultural background is I Taukei Fijian, Indo-Fijian and Anglo-Celtic Settler. Their work is positioned conceptually around anarchiving, desirability politics, diasporic knowledges and queer Indigenous narratives specifically pertaining to Oceania. Their community work centres on revelling in the complexity and pleasure of QTIBIPOC in nipaluna/Hobart. Priya was awarded a Bachelor of Visual Communication from the School of Art, University of Tasmania, Hobart in 2011.

Priya is the recipient of the 2022 CAT Courtyard commission to develop a temporary artwork for the outside of the gallery.