"The three images here show women dealing with life under lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. The women are all locked in the paintings. They are surviving within their bubbles as best as they can. The mother must cope with the change to her reality while still providing the necessities of life for her child. They are modern women but they are bound to the past, trapped inside it… albeit willingly. They are surrounded by the kupesi designs of their ancestors. They give meaning to the kupesi designs that show through subtly in the rubbings, and more strikingly in the clear traditional patterns around the sides, just as much as the kupesi designs give meaning to them. It is a collaboration between the generations, a collaboration between the living representatives and their ancestors. These pieces of tapa cloth are from Tonga, the homeland of Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows. The kupesi stencils have been handed down to Sulieti from her elders in her home village of Falevai. The clay for the umea, or dye, also comes from Falevai. The women have been painted by Sulieti’s daughter Tui Emma Gillies. The mother and daughter have collaborated on many projects and often teach tapa art workshops together."

Tui Emma Gillies & Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows are New Zealand based Tongan artists
specialising in Tapa art. Seemingly challenging, confronting and controversial, their work pays respect to their ancestors who practiced Tapa art before them and honours the roots of the medium. They have receive grants from Creative New Zealand for collaborative art projects and they were the recipients of the Creative New Zealand Heritage Art Award in 2018. Recent exhibitions include The Royal Academy of Art in London(during Oceania), The National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne, The University of Hawaii Hilo, and Auckland Museum. Sulieti was recently made an MNZM in the New Zealand New Year’s honours.

List of work:

Sitting in the Now
Mother and Child Part 1
Close up detail of Mother and Child part 1
Mother and Child Part 2
Close up detail of Mother and Child part 2
Process image: Kupesi stencil
Process image: Clay for the umea or dye from Falevai.
Creation process video: please click "View Locking it Down"

View Locking It Down