Louie Zalk-Neale

Louie Zalk-Neale (born 1996) is an artist who embraces the power of body adornment to amplify and reframe queer and Māori life. They are a descendant of Ngāi Te Rangi iwi (a Māori tribe of Aotearoa New Zealand) and English and Scottish ancestors. Louie recycles waste and wields materials from forests, beaches and gutters to add meticulously crafted extensions to their body. They immerse their audience in ritualistic performances, bringing queer visions of the past and future abruptly into the present moment. Their wider practice connects performance art, body adornment, sculpture, video, drawing, workshops and customary Māori art forms.

In recent projects, their explorations in twisting taura tī kōuka (cabbage tree fibre rope) attempt to bind the sacred transgender experience with the transformative powers of taniwha and tipua - spiritual beings from Māori knowledge systems that can change gender and form. Louie’s practices reinforce that queerness is an intrinsic quality of any natural and cultural system, and is necessary for these things to be healthy.

Their work has been presented across Aotearoa New Zealand and in Germany and Japan. Louie is based on the Kapiti Coast north of Wellington where they live with their husband Yuval and two-year-old Miri.

***This artist is supported by Creative New Zealand.

Photo by Yuval Zalk-Neale