Artist Profile - Nga Waiata
Born in 1962 in Hastings, Nga Waiata has followed various creative pathways and following a long career in fashion and has, for the past 4 years, been focusing on jewellery as a creative and commercial venture. She has developed a unique range of crystal and native timber rings and pendants with a raw natural style that has quickly made them highly coveted items in fashion circles around the world from Barneys in New York to fashion designer Paul Smith in the UK. Nga Waiata’s jewels can also be found locally in design stores and private collections throughout the country.
Recycled Pohutakawa is an important part of her practice - as she says “the rich red wood works beautifully with dark crystals…”
Nga Waiata works from her home studio in Napier.
I’d seen Nga Waiata’s work in various design stores and was impressed with her creative use of Pohutukawa and Black Maire timber. As with all of the artists involved in the show, Nga Waiata has been super generous with her time and her creativity - working with her to develop her ring sizer for the pohutukawa cabinet has been fun and most rewarding.
