About us

Sienna O'Shannessey


Name	Sienna O'Shannessey
Iwi	Ngāi Tahu
School	Rangi Ruru Girls' School
Year	12
Title	Tūpuna Connections to Kaikōura
Media	Drypoint, photographic collage
Statement	I am a Ngāi Tahu artist with iwi connections to Pā Mangamanu in Kaikōura, Te Wai Pounamu. I descend from Maud Emma Norton the mother of Albert, who is seen on the left of my image, next to his sister, photographed in Kaikōura, a place where earlier generations of my whanau have lived and are buried. Pictured are my precious tūpuna and the people my Māori blood line come from. My ancestors who have always been part of this land. My grandmother Susanne, who I am very close to, shares stories from our past. We spend lots of whānau time together in Kaikōura. I surf below our marae that looks out over the waves of Mangamanu. My artworks show my strong connection and sense of belonging to this place, which I’ve always felt. The photographic images sit transparently over a drypoint etching of lush native plants from my ancestral home.