Zena Abbott

Zena Elva Mary Abbott (née Andrews, 21 April 1922 – 6 November 1993) was a New Zealand weaver. Her works are held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Dowse Art Museum.

Early life and introduction to weaving Abbott was born in Auckland in 1922. Growing up in Depression-era New Zealand, Abbott left school at the age of thirteen to become a dressmaker, and was subsequently drafted into essential work during World War Two. During the 1950s, she travelled around New Zealand, living in a caravan and working as a sewing machine instructor. Abbott acquired her own loom and began experimenting with unspun wool and natural dyes and fibres.

Career as a weaver

In 1959, her work was shown in the Auckland City Art Gallery in An Exhibition of New Zealand Craft Work, alongside artists such as Doreen Blumhardt, Barry Brickell, Len Castle, Helen Mason, Patricia Charlotte Perrin and Mirek Smíšek. Abbott exported her work to Australia, and exhibited in Australia, England, Canada and the United States. In 1976, she won the Kohn Award at the Auckland Society of Art. Works of Abbott are held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Dowse Art Museum.