Sheyne Tuffery

Sheyne Tuffery is an Wellington based multi-media visual artist: whose primary mediums are mixed media painting,moving image and printmaking. Perhaps best known for the dynamic style of his prints and woodcuts, Sheyne describes himself as a paper architect who uses his work to create and represent his own cultural context and sense of belonging.
 
His prints and paintings often envisage Polynesia as a futuristic urban utopia; with the Samoan fale as the symbolic archetype for skyscrapers, apartment housing and rocket ships (vaka). These works reflect Sheyne’s research into his Samoan heritage and symbolism, his travel wanderlust and his taste for big overseas cities. They also reveal ongoing influences, the world of fantasy, comics, and cartoons, which add a sense of immediacy and humour to his subject matter.

 In 2005 Tuffery lived on the shores of the Manukau harbour where he became aware of Manukau's bird population and local bird lore. He became fascinated by New Zealand's geological history as a singular landmass (a vaka), and natural sanctuary for a vast array of bird species, including the extinct one's like the giant penguin.

Tuffery draws on his own associations to Samoa (meaning 'sacred bird') and to cars (especially the 'extinct' ones) as symbols of urban - migration vaka.

Recent Solo Exhibition History

2008  Sonar Interferance Salamander Gallery, Christchurch

2007 The Ancient Helmsman, Lane Gallery, Auckland

2006 Misplaced Effigies, Flagstaff Gallery, Devonport

Marziart Internationale Galerie. Hamburg, Germany

Penguins and Buicks, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch

2005 The Gondwana Waka, Lane Gallery,Auckland

2005 The Gondwana Waka, Catchment Gallery, Nelson,

Selected Group Exhibitions

2007 All things Bright and Digital, LeSA Gallery, Wellington

Face Value, Pacific Video Portraiture, Portrait Gallery, Wellington

2006 Pasifika Styles, Camdridge University Museum, U.K

Re-Interpreting the Middle East , Khalil Sakikini Center, Ramallah, Palestine,

Mainly Contemporary, Williams Gallery, Wellington

2005 Homelands, Cybertribe online Exhibition, Newcastle, Australia

Lima-Pacific Arts, (5th Pacific Festival of CHCH), Christchurch

Face Value: Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Face Value, Museum of Brisbane, Australia

Re-Interpreting the Middle East, 2005 SGC Conference, Washington DC,

Israel, Michigan, Jordan, Egypt

2004 Wallace Award Finalist Exhibition, Wallace gallery, Auckland

Sumei National Print Exhibit, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.A

Recent Achievements and Awards

2006 Macmillan Brown Centre, Artist in Residence, Canterbury University

Artist in Residence, Howick College, Auckland

Artist in Residence, Samuel Marsden College, Wellington

Artist in Residence, Dillworth College , Auckland

2005 Creative New Zealand Grant- Workshop in San Francisco, USA

2004 Finalist –James Wallace Awards, Auckland

Finalist - Sumei National Print Awards, Newark, N.J, USA

2003 Wesley Community Centre Commission, Auckland

2002 Martin Hughes Contemporary Pacific Art Award

2001 Resident Artist for Pacific Pathways, Auckland Museum