| Gina Matchitt | |
| Birth Place: | Rotorua, New Zealand |
| Nationality: | New Zealand |
| Alma Mater: | Unitec Institute of Technology Massey University |
Gina Matchitt (Te Arawa Whakatõhea) is a New Zealand Māori jeweller, weaver and artist. Her work combines Māori pattern and language with contemporary pākehā brands and symbols.[1] [2]
Matchitt was born and raised in Rotorua,[3] and graduated from Unitec Institute of Technology with a diploma in design (jewellery) in 1994. She returned to Unitec as a lecturer in the School of Design from 1996 to 1999, teaching in the areas of body adornment, metal history and Māori arts.[4] Her first solo exhibition, Ngā Whiriwhiri, was held in 1996 at Fingers Contemporary Jewellery Gallery in Auckland.[5] Her Merchandise portfolio, representing external (Western) influences on Māori culture, won a Seppelt Contemporary Art Award in 1999 and was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. She graduated with a masters of Māori visual arts from Massey University in 2011.[6]
She and her family lived in Washington, D.C. from 2007 to 2012,[7] then Rome for two years before returning to New Zealand.