In her work, Rosanna Raymond is guided by Samoan philosophical understandings of vā, in which time and space are activated by people, relationships and reciprocal obligations. She seeks to ‘acti.VĀ.te’ dynamic relationships, explaining her method as ‘a choreographic process’ that extends beyond art into both domestic and spiritual realms.

Raymond is particularly interested in the ongoing custodianship of Pacific tāonga (cultural artefacts) that are held in museum and gallery collections around the world. Working closely with curators, conservators and other museum staff, Raymond’s body-centred practice introduces Pasifika methodologies and knowledge systems — such as vā — into museological understandings of the ‘conser-VĀ-tion’ of Niu Aitu (new creations).

The work Backhand Maiden 2015, a gown featuring stencilled barkcloth, was first shown as part of Raymond’s SaVAge K’lub installation in ‘The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT8) at GOMA in 2015. With puffy sleeves, a cinched waist and a long skirt, complete with bustle, the inspiration for this garment clearly comes from polite, upper-class Edwardian-era society; however, the open back of the garment tells another story. In Raymond’s words: 

Backhand is a grand dame . . . high ranking . . . doesn’t suffer fools . . . she appears to be acculturated but the back is where she gives you the back hand and reveals her tattooed arse . . . a total insult, her true feelings are revealed . . . she may be a lady but has no time for colonial tropes . . . I see her like a trojan horse, as a lady she can go places I can’t but once she is in . . . she has her own sovereignty.