Graduating with a master’s degree in Art History and Cultural Anthropology, Ina has spent most of her life travelling and living abroad in the United States, North Africa and Italy.
Her artistic education has included traditional engraving and etching techniques at the French Institute of Tetouan in Morocco and Il Bisonte Foundation for Art and Printmaking in Florence.
She has been an active member of the Print Council Aotearoa NZ since 2015, exhibiting widely and having her first solo show in 2017. Extensive research into contemporary print practice by local artists led to establishing the Printopia Festival of Original Print in 2022.
Collaboration, knowledge-sharing and community building are key aspects of printmaking that draw her to this medium.
Currently residing in Tāmaki Makaurau-Auckland, she teaches printmaking workshops from her studio in Newmarket and continues to write about the print community.
“I am interested in the powerful relationship between objects and memory and how this shapes how we see ourselves. My work reflects ideas about cultural memory and individual identity. I have always been fascinated by the idea of individuals and cultures reinventing themselves. My examination of objects is something akin to an archaeologist, asking – what do these fragments of material culture say about ourselves?”
“My artistic process combines graphic, black and white woodblock images and vibrant, colourful stencils, applied using aerosol paints. This contrast between traditional and contemporary printmaking processes reflects the tension between modern identities that are constantly emerging and flourishing from within dominant cultural platforms”.
I am always keen to get involved in collaborative art projects, exhibitions and create private commissions.
Contact: i.arraoui@gmail.com
Facebook and Instagram: @inaarraoui
Ina Arraoui 