Maria Maea
Maria is a Mexican-Samoan artist who brings a unique perspective that bridges Latinx and Pacific worlds—two communities with rich cultural lineages shaped by migration, resilience, and deep familial ties. Her work resonates with Pacific communities in Aotearoa, where questions of ancestry, belonging, and cultural survival are central to many artists and families living across vast oceanic and diasporic networks.
Elements in Maea’s practice—particularly her engagement with ritual, spiritual symbolism, and urban materiality—find powerful echoes in the ways Pacific artists in Aotearoa navigate hybridity and place. Her blending of Samoan heritage, familial collaboration, and practices such as weaving and costume-making creates strong affinities with Māori and Pacific makers who honour intergenerational knowledge through collective creativity.
In this context, Maea’s presence would offer a meaningful contribution to the ongoing conversation about indigeneity, memory, and transformation across the Moana and beyond. She would undoubtedly relish the opportunity to work in Aotearoa—strengthening ties with local communities, exchanging knowledge with other Indigenous and diasporic artists, and weaving her ancestral threads into the cultural fabric of this place.
On the Whims of a Butterfly (Chrysalis), 2025
Nephew, 2022
RESIDENCY SUMMARY
Tautai and Edith Amituana’i hosted Los Angeles–based artist Maria Maea for a residency programme across Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and Tauranga. The programme included visits to the Sāmoa House Library (SHL), the Auckland War Memorial Museum Pacific Collection, and exhibitions along Karangahape Road. Maria attended the SHL Annual Fundraiser, participated in World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education events, exhibition openings, artist studio visits, a workshop at Taro Patch Creative, and delivered an artist talk at Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust.
A weekend in Tauranga included visits to Tauranga Art Gallery for their gallery opening and attendance at The Urale’s artist talk. Additional engagements included time at Whitecliffe, as well as visits to Māngere Arts Centre and Waiheke.
The residency deepened Maria’s engagement with Pacific art through meaningful connections with artists, curators, and institutions. Access to archives and libraries expanded her conceptual frameworks around Pacific practice. Encounters with artists including Luke Willis Thompson, Ane Tonga, and Rosanna Raymond were particularly impactful.
The programme offered both professional validation and personal affirmation, strengthening international networks and inspiring future collaborative possibilities between Aotearoa and Los Angeles. Overall, the residency encouraged a more expansive, long-term approach to Maria’s practice while fostering enduring relationships across the Moana.