‘Itake - About

Growing Up

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I have Rotuman and mixed Canadian-European ancestry.  

I live, work, and create primarily on the unceded, ancestral lands stewarded and shared by the  Stó:lō, Semiahmoo, W̱SÁNEĆ, Kwantlen, Tsawwassen & Katzie peoples. ​

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My art is part of my language-learning process, a way to explore Fäeag Rotuam Ta (The Rotuman Language). I started painting with acrylics as a child, hanging out with my Ö'fa(father) as he expressed his Rotumaneity here in Canada through wood carving, stained glass & paint (Culturally Inspired Rotuma Art). I am fortunate to grow up with a Rotuman diaspora community Hugag'esea (Of One Mind & Heart). Here I get to dance in both traditional Rotuman taumaka & contemporary Pacific dance. I have always loved fashion, performance, dance, and costume since childhood.

Today

I have been block printing, mixing carving & ink.
This combination of rubber & ink is a more forgiving format
than wood, as I struggle with fibromyalgia. I like to combine
the different stamps into stories on tapa (mulberry sheets).
Then I animate the different stamps into audiovisual stories
exploring a word or concept in Rotuman and English. This animating of block prints has been so fun, and it allows me to write educational short stories while learning Rotuman. 

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In 2025, I launched my online webstore to host my practice and facilitate sales of prints. In February, I released a Valentine's Day fashion collection of 4 block print designs. The collection was inspired by my ancestral relationships to 'i'oro (shark) & he'e (octopus), the tefui (Rotuman garland symbol), the tupu'a (Rotuman mark of women,  a compass), & the vā (a physical or emotional space established to build meaningful relationships with others and the environment). My tefakhanisi gift for 2025 Rotuman Language Week was Maf Ne Puk Ne Fäeag Fak Rotuạm Ta - The Rotuman Alphabet Book! Written, illustrated and, self published with the help of my Rotuman elders from Hugag'esea.

On the side

I also enjoy recycled and organic materials in my mixed-media paintings and sea sculptures.

These aspects ground the whimsical dreamscapes in my local relationships with

people, plants, and animals. Using prayer and protocol to forage sustainably,

I collect small pieces of organic material for art, medicine, and ceremony.  
Recycle bits and bobs I collect on my journeys, often gifted/found/thrown away,
trying to make use of some of the plastic waste we are drowning in.
I consider how Pasifika peoples voyaged to far lands, and as humans do,
we migrate and develop relationships with our new environment.
I don’t have access to the same medicines and plants back in Rotuma,
but what about my local environment & people?

At the same time, through recycling, I reconcile Pacific peoples being

on the front lines of suffocation from plastic trash & rising warm waters.

I think of what our temamfua (ancestors) do?
They make use of everything, save every plastic bag, and use every carton.
Recycling in my art is just a sliver in that direction.