A demure portrait of the artist strip searched << with 11 details of bi-polar disorder >> (under close scrutiny)

Jacqueline Fraser is one of New Zealand's most respected and widely exhibited contemporary artists. While describing herself as a sculptor, Fraser's elegant and complex wire and fabric wall pieces defy easy definition.

Born in New Zealand, her exhibition history includes more than 50 solo shows in New Zealand, and participation in group shows in New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Singapore and several international Biennales.

Fraser's work combines locally and international sourced materials in a way that also effects the site of each installation. She uses socio-political issues to effectively dismantle ideological and theoretical assumptions by highlighting cultural bias and ignorance, all with an underlying poetic that makes history both personal and real.

Her tableaux and emblematic 'drawings' of figures and profiles of people address themes of loss and sadness, with the real and the personal being fundamental to her work. Curator of New Museum, New York, Anne Barlow, says of Fraser's work, "...there is no such thing as a seamless narrative. She creates tension between the beauty and fragility of the materials and the harsh subject matter she often depicts."

Fraser's recent work, bi polar, representing New Zealand at the 49th Venice Biennale in 2001 and her forthcoming solo exhibition at the New Museum in New York, and participation in the Yokohama Triennale continue to position Fraser as a highly regarded artist. Jacqueline Fraser has exhibited widely in New Zealand, Australia and internationally. Major group exhibitions include the Museum of Mexico City 2000, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, 1999; New Zealand Winner of the Seppelt Award, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 1999; Islas, Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Containers in Copenhagen, 1996, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 1998 and 1994.