Nikki Romney
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Nikki Romney (born 1964 in Auckland) is an artist based in Nelson, New Zealand. She has been painting fulltime since 2002, when she attended Whitecliffe Art School in Auckland under her married name of Nichola Huizinga. She paints in oils and describes her style as traditional realism with contemporary twists. Her focus is primarily socio-political with recurring themes around freedom of expression, religious and societal oppression, women's and gender politics and cultural appropriation/appreciation. She is sole owner of Blacklist Art Gallery in Nelson.
Career[edit]
Her career has been marked by controversy since 2010, when she admitted creating a fake persona and painting as two separate identities. She fooled local journalists and arts administrators, entering annual award competitions as two separate people with very different painting styles. She was successful under both identities and was even interviewed several times, in both guises, by the same daily newspaper journalist, who did not see through her disguises for more than a year.[1] When the reporter finally made the connection and confronted the artist, Romney admitted the ruse, saying she had created her new persona in order to spare her then husband from his deeply religious family's condemnation, as she created a body of works for sell-out exhibitions in Nelson and Auckland under the title Blasphemy: Damned For Eternity.[2] Further controversy came that same year when one of her works, The Adam Painting, was refused admission to the Nelson Arts Council awards. The saga was featured in a column by respected national arts critic Hamish Keith. He wrote that censorship in art was about as objectionable as things get, and suggested the Nelson Art Council should run an iced cupcake competition.[3]
Previously known as Nichola Huizinga, she changed her name by deed poll to Nikki Romney, adopting the surname of 18th century English portrait painter George Romney, from whose line she is descended. In 2019 her portrayal of a historic Māori heroine caused outrage among iwi leaders. Romney claimed the painting of Huria Matenga was a tribute to a strong and significant woman, but portraying her topless with nipple piercings incensed local Māori, and a large version of the work attached to the outside of her gallery was stolen and never recovered.[4]
In 2020 Romney received threats and abuse for her painting Taking Tikanga to the World. She repainted a well-known portrait of a Māori woman (Ina te Papatahi, by CF Goldie, c. 1912) as a backdrop, painting five young woman of various ethnicities all with Māori tattoos (tā Moko) on their chins.[5]
Outrage and threats continued unabated, her gallery was burgled and works damaged, and later that year, Romney was arrested and eventually charged with making available false documents. The charge related to a series of threats made against Romney and her gallery which she claimed were linked to a website campaign named Our Culture is Not Your Paycheck, which opposed cultural appropriation. Romney and an accomplice claimed they simply used screen-grabs from the website to expose the group after she and other artists had received death-threats from group members across two years. The pair admitted the charge pre-trial and a conviction was entered, although the judge did not impose further penalties. The early plea meant they did not put their side of the story to the court.[6] In early 2021 Romney closed Saligia Art Gallery in Nelson. In November 2023, she opened a new venture, Blacklist Art Gallery.
Awards[edit]
In 2014 Romney's two entries received first and second placings in the national Anderson Park Art Gallery Annual Spring Exhibition. She won the E Hayes and Sons Art Award for best entry and also the runner-up award[7] She had won local awards but no longer enters competitions.[8]
References[edit]
- ↑ Cowdrey, Alice (August 31, 2010). "Top painter admits fake persona". Stuff.
- ↑ Cowdrey, Alice (January 23, 2011). "Controversial artist stirs debate again". Stuff.
- ↑ The Listener, September 18, 2010, p. 41. "Censorship, now that IS offensive."
- ↑ Gooch, Carly (February 17, 2019). "'Offensive' painting of Māori hero taken from gallery". Stuff.
- ↑ "Nelson artist threatened for non-Maori moko painting". NZ Herald. December 12, 2023.
- ↑ "Identities of the artists who dropped 'threatening' flyers around Nelson revealed". Stuff. 24 May 2022.
- ↑ RITCHIE, JUDITH (October 15, 2014). "Controversial artist wins national awards". Stuff.
- ↑ Cowdrey, Alice (August 21, 2010). "Rejection 'wrong', says artist". Stuff.
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