body of work that spanned more than 15 years, the group’s repertoire included avant-garde performance art and large-scale fashion events. Formed after collaboration on a series of successful events including fashion shows and warehouse parties, the collective’s work evolved in a contemporary art setting with members visual arts background influencing the migration from nightclubs in to galleries.
Largely performance-based, the works produced by the collective were renowned for cutting-edge performances and costuming that contemporized traditional perceptions of pacific art. Noting a distinct absence of positive representation of Pacific people in mainstream media, the collective’s work made a point of showcasing the talents and faces of brown people. The collective was instrumental in forging a new platform for Pacific artists in New Zealand and resulted in more formal recognition of urban Pacific & Maori identity within a creative framework.
The sisters work first featured in a formal gallery setting in 1994 at the Auckland Art Gallery where they performed a piece at the opening of Bottled Ocean curated by Jim Viviaere. The development of this performance piece lead to Motu Tangata; a contemporary realisation of the legend of Ina/Hina and Tuna. This work was devised after receiving invitation to perform at the seventh Festival of Pacific Arts in Samoa in 1996 - a festival that celebrates traditional practices - but was relegated to the festival periphery on account of its modern styling.
Much of Pacific Sisters’ early fashion work featured in magazines such as Planet. Their first gallery performance was at Bottled Ocean, Auckland Art Gallery, 1994; Motu Tangatawere performed in Samoa, 1996; Tribe Vibe and the Extended Family Mix, Sydney's Pacific Wave Festival (1998); Tūrangawaewae, New Zealand Jewellery Biennale, The Dowse (1998); Raw Fish, The Physics Room, Christchurch (1998); as well as the Biennale of Sydney in 2000.
The Sisters reunited in 2011 to present Pacific Sisters SOUTHSIDE: EyeKonik at the Mangere Arts Centre as part of the Pacific Arts Summit. Their work 21st Century Cyber Sister is held in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.