Samoan-based Artist Vanya Taule’alo to launch Tsunami Series

Dec. 17, 2009 - PRLog -- APIA, Samoa:  One of Samoa’s most celebrated artists, Vanya Taule’alo, will be launching her upcoming Tsunami series via her new website www.vanyataulealo.com as a way of interpreting the impact of the Tsunami through visual art.

Taule’alo, whose most recent work before the September 30 tragedy was dedicated to Samoa’s environment, was profoundly moved by what she saw during the aftermath of the Tsunami which killed over 180 people on the island and destroyed villages.

“The day after I drove with my husband and friends to see the impact on the island of Upolu,” said Taule’alo.  

“The further we drove the quieter we became.”

“At Coconut’s Resort and Sinalei Reef Resort there were poignant reminders of people having been there; a painting hung lopsided on a wall of a badly damaged fale at Sinalei, while everything else was in absolute chaos.”

Taule’alo adds that it was like nothing they expected.  “People sat near where they used to live in stunned silence and the powerful destructive force of nature was overpowering.”

Over the last couple of years the artist’s work has moved into the semi-abstract – using texture, photography and mixed media to address her concerns about climate change and destruction of Samoa’s natural environment.  She has canoed through two mangrove forests taking photographs and absorbing the atmosphere.

“Samoa’s mangroves are one of our most important yet vulnerable ecosystems as they provide protection from storms and high waves yet we clear them for coastal development when all indications are we should be building inland,” she says.

“So for something like the tsunami to happen and the increased threat of cyclones, we are reminded of how fragile the environment really is.”

CONNECTING TO THE WORLD

Vanya Taule’alo is internationally recognised as one of Samoa’s premier artists.  A resident of Samoa for the last 35 years she has been instrumental in nurturing the visual art ‘industry’ first as an entrepreneur, then as an celebrated artist and arts lecturer, and more recently as an arts consultant.  She has exhibited in Germany, New Zealand and Australia, been published widely and her works are in art collections world wide.  

But she still finds it difficult to connect with the external art world and find an equal footing with those Pacific artists based overseas who have better access and more opportunities to develop.

“Which is why I am hoping my website and blog connects me with people interested in visual art and Samoa’s contribution,” says Taule’alo.

“Samoa is a fascinating place to create.”

Her breadth of work is inspired by what she sees around her daily.

“My artworks reveal the compelling influence of the Samoan culture and the importance of the aganu’u (customs), aiga (extended family) and fanua (land) and as the core of one’s being,” she says.

BACKGROUND

Vanya Taule’alo was born in Christchurch, New Zealand and her father George Johnson is one of Australia’s most distinguished abstract painters.   On Vanya’s maternal side, the Tyree brothers remain one of New Zealand’s earliest pioneers of photography.

Taule’alo has a Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Arts from the University of Newcastle in Australia.  Her work has been acclaimed around the world – Ia Tupu i se Fusi was chosen to represent Samoa for the 2001 Women’s’ Day of Prayer in Germany, where one female artist worldwide is chosen to submit work to use for meditation and prayer.  An installation Tautua, Pule Mana from her Masters exhibition Eternal Symbols is housed in the collection of the Tjibaou Cultural Centre in New Caledonia.  

Since leaving her position as art lecturer at the National University of Samoa in 2008 to concentrate on her art and consultancy work, Taule’alo has been able to develop her studio, a small gallery and to participate in local and regional exhibitions.

Her next exhibition, which also features renowned Pacific artist Fatu Feu’u, and Isaballe Staron-Tutugorois, is on 15 February 2010, at the Salamander Gallery in Christchurch New Zealand.  An open invitation is available on her website.

ENDS

To contact Vanya Taule’alo directly go to www.vanyataulealo.com.