Auckland based fine artist, Shawnee Tekii, uses art as a tool to create social engagement. Often tackling the political issues that surround her community. Her work takes the unseen and mundane and illuminates the stories that lie hidden in the urban landscape and reflects them back at the viewer in all their colourful glory. Shining a light on the beauty that is part of every human experience and environment.

The digital age plays a large role in underpinning her practice. Shawnee’s work encourages the use of social media and technology to either document or activate deeper conceptual content. Through the use of bold aesthetics and Instagram worthy graphics, she aims to communicate her political agenda directly to audiences of her generation. 

Shawnee Tekii was born in 1998 in Auckland, New Zealand. She obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design in 2019, and currently works out of her studio based in Te Atatu Peninsula. Alongside her fine art career, Shawnee also works as a lecturer at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.