Michel Tuffery


Michael "Michel" Cliff Tuffery is a New Zealand artist of Samoan, Tahitian and Cook Islands descent. He is one of New Zealand's most well known artists and his work is held in many art collections in New Zealand and around the world.
He lives and works in Wellington, New Zealand. Renowned as a printmaker, painter and sculptor, Tuffery has gained national and international recognition, and has made a major contribution to New Zealand art.
One of his distinctive sculptures from 1994 is the life-sized work, entitled , which was constructed from flattened and riveted re-cycled corned beef tins. His work is shaped by his research into, and encounters with his Polynesian heritage while making use of Māori design.
His mother is Samoan and his father was Cook Island Tahitian.
He attended Newlands College in Wellington, and has a Diploma in Fine Arts from the School of Fine Arts at Otago Polytechnic. Many of his works explore colonialism and people's treatment of the environment.
He was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to art, in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours. In 2010 he was awarded the Contemporary Pacific Art Award at the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifka Awards.

List of Works and Exhibitions

Tuffery has exhibited extensively in New Zealand and internationally.