Fraser's early work involved installations, inside gallery spaces and in outdoor environments, where she used natural and artificial materials which were woven, plaited, stretched and tied into delicate constructions.[2] Art historian Anne Kirker compared her work from the 1970s and 1980s to 'three-dimensional drawings in space'.[3]: 168
In 1992 Fraser lived and worked in Avize, France, as the Moët et Chandon Fellow.[5] Having previously worked more spontaneously with space inside galleries, Fraser found that this was not possible in French galleries, which had stricter requirements and required plans to be submitted beforehand.[6] On her return she made the site-specific work He Tohu: The New Zealand Room for the opening of City Gallery Wellington in its Civic Square location.[7] In 1997 Fraser created the major installation Te Ara a Hine for the opening of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[8]
In 2001 Fraser, along with Peter Robinson, represented New Zealand in its first participation at the Venice Biennale.[9] Fraser's installation work, A Demure Portrait of the Artist Strip Searched with 11 Details of Bi-Polar Disorder, is now in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[10]
Fraser's work of the 1980s and 1990s was often discussed in contemporary art criticism and theory in terms of identity and cultural politics, and for links to her Māori heritage.[11] From 2000 she has purposefully recast her career and work in an international framework, living and working in Paris and New York.[12]
Fraser's work, such as The Making of the Pope of Greenwich Village 2012 (City Gallery Wellington, 2011), The Making of American Gangster 2012 (Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland, 2012) And The Making of the Ciao Manhattan Tapes 2013 (Adam Art Gallery, 2013), include collages in which clippings from magazines are mixed with other materials, such as gold foil, plastic, and wood veneer.[12] These collages are sometimes incorporated into multimedia installations in the gallery spaces, mixed with theatrical lighting, video projections, designer furniture, and cut-out figures, accompanied by soundtracks made from contemporary rap music, including Nicki Minaj and A$AP Rocky.[12] Examples of these works were paired with photographs from Australian artist Tracey Moffat's Up in the sky series in the 2016 exhibition Filmic imaginaries: Jacqueline Fraser and Tracey Moffatt at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[13]
^ abcdEastmond, Elizabeth; Penfold, Merimeri (1986). Women and the arts in New Zealand – Forty Works: 1936–86. Auckland: Penguin Books. ISBN014009234X.
^ abKirker, Anne (1993). New Zealand Women Artists: A Survey of 150 Years (2nd ed.). Tortola, B.V.I.: Craftsman House. ISBN9768097302.
^Dale, Richard (16 August 1990). "Art from the Environment". New Zealand Herald.
^"About". City Gallery Wellington. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
^ abCaughey, Elizabeth; Gow, John (1997). Contemporary New Zealand Art 1. Everbest Printing. pp. 18–19. ISBN1-86953-218-X.
^"He Tohu". City Gallery Wellington. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
^"History". Friends of Te Papa. Retrieved 2 January 2015.