Cora-Allan Wickliffe


Cora-Allan Lafaiki Twiss is a multidisciplinary Aotearoa -based artist and hiapo practitioner, Wickliffe was awarded the Arts Pasifika Award for Pacific Heritage Artist in 2020 through Creative New Zealand.

Biography

Wickliffe is Niuean and Māori, with roots in Alofi and Liku, as well as Ngāpuhi and Tainui in Aotearoa. Originally from West Auckland, she was born in 1986. She completed a Bachelor of Visual Art and Design in 2007 and completed her master's degree in visual art and design from Auckland University of Technology in 2013.
Wickliffe is a founding member of the BC Collective, along with her husband Daniel Twiss.
Wickliffe is the only living traditional hiapo maker, and is recognised for resurrecting this art genre. She distinguishes hiapo by imagery/motifs of 'botanical forms alone', differentiating it from tapa and other barkcloth forms in the Pacific. In 2020 Wickliffe published a book on hiapo, recognising hiapo as 'an art form that can be passed on to new generations.'
Wickliffe was represented by Bartley and Company who was a dealer gallery in Wellington. Her works are held in major collections such as Te Papa, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Lincoln University, The Arts House Trust, and Royal Academy of Arts.
In 2018, Wickliffe was awarded an artist's residency in Banff, Canada. In 2021, she received a Te Whare Hera Residency at Massey University. In the same year, she held the McCahon House Residency in Auckland.
She has exhibited in Canada, Australia, England, Niue and New Zealand.

Publications

  • Wickliffe, C.-A., & Lafaiki, F.. Hiapo : a collection of patterns and motifs. Little Island Press.

Selected curations

  • 2020: Moana Legacy. Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust. Auckland.

Selected exhibitions

YearTitleGalleryLocation
2013Exotic weeds Kick Arts GalleryCairns, Australia
2015#HUI UntitledArt SocietyCalgary, Canada
2015Dusky MaidenElephant Artist Relief, Art ConferenceCalgary, Canada
2016Spring runoffMST FestivalCalgary, Canada
2016Found FootingWhipper Snapper GalleryToronto, Canada
2019The space between usBlack Dot GalleryMelbourne, Australia
2019Fifty Shade of BlakBlak Dot GalleryMelbourne, Australia
2019Returns and TransitsVancouver Art GalleryCanada

Awards