Fiona Pardington
Fiona was born in Auckland and holds a Doctorate in Fine Arts from the University of Auckland. In the late 1980s she was among a group of women artists who challenged photography’s social documentary aesthetic that was prevalent in the previous decade. She went on to focus on the still life format, recording museum taonga and other historic objects such as hei tiki and the now-extinct huia bird. Fiona, who was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, was named Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2016 by the French Prime Minister.