Messini Palace is a self-taught artist who works from her Avondale art studio in Auckland. 

Her cast sculpture and visual art is deeply intertwined with her own whakapapa journey, which escalated in a powerful way after returning after 20 years to Aotearoa in 2017, meeting and uniting with her Ngāti Apakura iwi and whanaunga. 

Messini’s pieces represent a merging of traditional toi Māori (vintage and new whakairo rakau) with modern mediums and vibrant colours. This contemporary urban angle is an expression of who Messini is, her Māori and Pākeha whakapapa and a connection between the past and the present.