Fave Samoan artist, Fatu Feu'u...

Fatu Feu'u the artist. (Photo credits: unknown)

My most fave Samoan artist since a teenager has been Fatu Feuu. In fact, yesterday in my art class I gave a short presentation on his life and art of which I have found so inspiring but never quite understood the motifs until I started studying his art.

The presentation was an assessment that asked students to identify an artist that they were interested to talk about, their whakapapa or gafa (genealogy) and to discuss their art.

Fatu was born in the village of Poutasi in the 1940s and left for NZ in his early 20s with this family. His dream was always to become an artist and his mother supported his dream.

Much of his artistic expressions draw from his roots as a Samoan with much of his works including motifs from tapa and traditional Samoan male tattoo designs/patterns of the pe'a or malofie with his own spin on the interpretations etc.

Unfortunately, he was married and divorced twice as I guess being a struggling artist relying solely on commissions and contracts can be a big strain on family life and the life of being a reclusive artist when big projects are commissioned.

You can see examples of his art all over the place with his works being snatched up by a lot of Auckland companies, government departments and all over the world. Locally, I've seen his work on Auckland library walls eg. Otahuhu Library, Mangere community board office in Mangere Town Centre, University of Auckland Education department etc it was even funny when earlier this year we walked into our local Papatoetoe law office and when I identified Fatu's work on the wall (can't help being a big fan) the lawyer wasn't even aware of how iconic/famous the art is.

In the presentation, I also mentioned that my mum's been my greatest inspiration in art and design as I observed her create and design many things growing up from dresses, bags, necklaces etc. it's a trait that I picked up and continue to enjoy in being a creative...