Molly Rangiwai-McHale

Molly Rangiwai-McHale (born 9 December 1985) is a New Zealand multimedia artist. Her artistic practice focuses on giving indigenous and feminine voices a platform against appropriation of culture and colonial perspectives.

Life and career Born on 9 December 1985, Rangiwai-McHale is of Māori, Chinese, Scottish, and Irish descent, and affiliates to Ngāti Porou and Te Aupōuri. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in visual arts at the University of Auckland and continues to be based in Auckland as an artist. Some of their most notable works produced together include I Stand With You 2014, a photographic series of 'Auckland and Suva-based queer-identifying women in their lives', and When can I see you again? 2017, exhibited in Fresh Gallery, Ōtara. 2012 I Don't Wanna Talk About It Solo exhibition Acrylic on canvas Fresh Gallery, Ōtara 2013-14 Dear Culture Vulture Artist alongside Luisa Tora Multimedia installation 6th Annual Tautai Tertiary Exhibition Close to Home, St. Paul's Gallery (Auckland University of Technology) (Sep 2013), OTARAfest & Southside Arts Festival (Oct 2013) 2017 Beauty is in the Street Artist alongside Annie Mackenzie, Areez Katki, Ash Mosen, et al. Photography Objectspace 2017 What About Your Friends? Artist alongside Luisa Tora Photographic prints Fresh Gallery Ōtara 2018 Love and Affection part 1 (within Heavenly Creatures, 2018) Louisa Afoa, Natasha Matila-Smith, Molly Rangiwai-McHale Multimedia installation Verge Gallery, Sydney 2018 Between You and Me Louisa Afoa, Natasha Matila-Smith, Molly Rangiwai-McHale, and Faith Wilson Video, photography, poetry on canvas Te Wai Ngutu Kākā Gallery Two, Auckland 2018 The Language of Things: Meaning and Value in Contemporary Jewellery Includes work by Rangiwai-McHale and over 100 global artists, some being: Yuka Oyama, Bernard Schobinger, Daniel Kruger, and David Bielander Multimedia jewellery installation The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt 2022 Declaration: A Pacific Feminist Agenda Artist alongside Jasmine Togo-Brisby, Marti Friedlander, Jessicoco Hansell, et al. Multimedia Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki 2018 Love and Affection part 2 Solo contribution Embroidered clothing St Paul Gallery, AUT Artworks Her own projects within her practice include contributing to The Language of Things: Meaning and Value in Contemporary Jewellery exhibition at The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, in 2018, as well as Beauty is in the Street, Objectspace, Auckland, in 2017. Rangiwai-McHale exhibited three embroidered pieces of clothing in the corner of the space. The 2022 work came as a result of 2013 mixed media works around similar thematics that the artists explored.

The intent of the work is described as prioritising indigenous voices in the face of appropriated Māori and Pacific art and knowledge. Titled The Ocean Will Protect Me, the audience is presented with a breastplate formed of six paired lobsters inspired by materials sourced in Onehunga, and a harness and fasteners for increased accessibility.

When Can I See You Again? In a review with the Pantograph Punch, Kari Schmidt discusses When Can I See You Again?. This exhibition took place at Fresh Gallery Ōtara in 2017 and was curated by Molly Rangiwai-McHale and Luisa Tora with the priority of showcasing women, LGBTQI+, Māori, Pacific, and Pākehā artists. The collaborative exhibition Declaration: A Pacific Feminist Agenda was advertised for its opening at Auckland Art Gallery and reviewed by the author, with McHale's Decolonise Your Tongue featuring. Thompson commented on how the artists and their families had experienced name mispronunciation, suggesting this was conceptually translated in the sculpture. As previously suggested, this observation of the labelled bear aligns with the artists' intentions. Alongside reactions to the work, insight into the making process of the work was divulged, for instance, the bear itself was made by an East Tamaki plastic fabrication business.