Lisa Reihana (New Zealander, born 1964). <em>Mahuika, from the "Digital Marae" series</em>, 2001. Digital photograph, 79 × 46 in. (200.7 × 116.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the artist, 2007.27. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Image courtesy of ARTPROJECTS, 2007.27_MAHUIKA_Digital Marae_Lisa_Reihana.jpg)

Lisa Reihana (New Zealander, born 1964). Mahuika, from the "Digital Marae" series, 2001. Digital photograph, 79 × 46 in. (200.7 × 116.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the artist, 2007.27. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Image courtesy of ARTPROJECTS, 2007.27_MAHUIKA_Digital Marae_Lisa_Reihana.jpg)

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What is this?

This photograph is the first in a series created by Lisa Reihana that depicts modernized interpretations of Maori deities. The deity here, Mahuika, is portrayed by Reihana's aunt.

Mahuika is a fire goddess who is said to sit on a stool in the underworld. Reihana has replaced her stool with a chair designed by Marcel Breuer which she feels is ubiquitous especially in the art world. The red nail polish represents the fire that Mahuika keeps in her fingernails.

Mahuika, from the "Digital Marae" series

Lisa Reihana

Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art

For many Polynesian societies, a marae (also called malae, mala ‘e, or me ‘ae) is a sacred communal space serving both social and religious purposes. Lisa Reihana, a Māori artist of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāi Tū descent based in Auckland, New Zealand, uses photography, sound, and video to create a “digital marae” populated with ancestral figures. The deity depicted in this work is Mahuika, the goddess from whom the hero Māui obtained the secret of making fire. Typically the domain of male carvers and artists, Reihana’s conception of this deity establishes intergenerational and cross-cultural connections between contemporary portraiture and traditional Māori folklore.

ARTIST Lisa Reihana, New Zealander, born 1964

MEDIUM Digital photograph

DATES 2001

DIMENSIONS 79 × 46 in. (200.7 × 116.8 cm) frame: 80 × 48 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (203.2 × 122.6 × 6.4 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 2007.27

CREDIT LINE Gift of the artist

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Lisa Reihana (New Zealander, born 1964). Mahuika, from the "Digital Marae" series, 2001. Digital photograph, 79 × 46 in. (200.7 × 116.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the artist, 2007.27. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Image courtesy of ARTPROJECTS, 2007.27_MAHUIKA_Digital Marae_Lisa_Reihana.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 2007.27_MAHUIKA_Digital Marae_Lisa_Reihana.jpg. Image courtesy of ARTPROJECTS

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

What is this?

This photograph is the first in a series created by Lisa Reihana that depicts modernized interpretations of Maori deities. The deity here, Mahuika, is portrayed by Reihana's aunt.