Receiving the Springboard Award for Visual Arts gifted by The Edgar Family – Mentored by 2022 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Sarah Hudson of Mataaho Collective

Ming Ranginui holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) degree from Massey University, Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She continued her studies at Te Wānanga o Raukawa, specialising in raranga (weaving). 

Ranginui is best known for sculptural works incorporating whatu or tāniko (Māori weaving techniques) and satin smocking. She bends customary fibres and contemporary fabrics to her will, using her distinctive visual and material sensibility to reimagine everyday entities. 

Her works focus on the themes of tino rangatiratanga (Māori sovereignty), spirituality, and survival. The pūrākau (stories) they express speak to her personal experiences but also reach out to the collective experiences of Indigenous people grappling with the generational impacts of colonisation. Ming is the current artist in residence at the Tylee Cottage in Whanganui.

Panel statement: “Ming’s work profoundly captures the complexities of contemporary lived experience in Aotearoa and beyond. Her material proficiency is exquisite, and delights audiences as they are enabled to engage with the work on many levels as she weaves multiple contexts together. Her practice is absolutely ready to take the next step as she continues to deepen her vocabulary, facing head on the ever more urgent issues of tino rangatiratanga and kotahitanga.”