La’u penina
my pearl, farewell
Etanah Lalau-Talapā
20/4/23 – 13/5/23
‘Nearly a year ago my world rocked to the core with the birth of my firstborn, and death of my father six weeks apart. My highest of highs and lowest of lows, I found myself compartmentalising my feelings. There’s no one way to process all of life’s joys and despairs.’
For La’u Penina my pearl, farewell, Etanah has collated personal dreams, inescapable thoughts and discovering new truths through a series of mixed-media, digital art and textiles, mimicking the fala lili’i (yarn mats) used in Samoan households to typically sleep on. Creating these pieces has helped Etanah to grieve and celebrate life, reconnect with family and friends, pay homage to her ancestors legacies and honour Te Awa Kairangi whenua that her late father and daughter’s fanua (placenta) now rests in.
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Born in Te Awa Kairangi, Lower Hutt, Wellington, 1995. Etanah is a multidisciplinary artist who is of Afega and Sa'anapu heritage from Samoa. Her works operate at the intersections of public installations, digital art, craft and mixed-media. Her Samoan heritage and diasporic experiences living in Aotearoa, New Zealand are sources of inspiration that influences her practice. Etanah graduated with a Bachelor of Design in Spatial design from Massey University in 2018
Sponsored by Parrotdog
Design by Etanah Lalau-Talapā