Aria McInnes is an artist and retailer who’s installation-based practice examines the staging of sincerity across personal and public spheres, as mediated by consumer culture. Often drawing from the performative logics of reality television, telemarketing, and retail environments, her work explores the tensions between moral intent and commercial participation—particularly within service roles, where one is at once “in service” and “being served.” Through parody and theatrical exaggeration, her work embraces the ridiculousness of these contradictions, offering humour as both a coping mechanism and a critical tool for navigating the moral ambiguities of participating in the very systems it seeks to question.

She holds a BFA (Hons) from Massey University’s College of Creative Arts and an MFA from Auckland University of Technology.

Tuxini Calendar 26/27, 2026. Wire-bound calendar, A3. Originally presented in GRWM at RM Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. Initially conceived as a get-rich-quick scheme, the yet-to-be-patented portmanteau—the Tuxini (Tuxedo Bikini)—began as a speculative business venture while the artist was seeking an entrepreneurial visa in South Korea. Upon arrival back in Aotearoa, the project was quickly shelved, prompted by the rapid decline of local textile and clothing manufacturers.

Almost six years later, the project has shifted direction, moving away from its original commercial intent and reimagined as something far more accessible, more... ephemeral. Now presented in a convenient A3 format, the Tuxini Calendar 26/27 delivers twelve months of sincere athletic exertion and seriously sexy swimwear. Finally, something worth planning your year around!