Penina Fidow

Artwork Title

The Patterns of Nature

Expressive Form

Drawing

Artist statement

As an artist I personally feel that art is the expression of our human creative experiences and our own point of view. My artwork is very cultural from a frame perspective and I have appropriated traditional Polynesian patterns and designs to create a contemporary image that is rich in colour, line and references to culture.

My selected material practice is drawing, using different pencil colours in a tonal manner as well as overlaying different colours. The light blue on the background represents the beauty of heaven (sky). The sky is constantly changing colour - think of sunrise or sunset. Dark blue was used as the ocean base, the place where Polynesian communities collect food for their family or to earn income. This is a fundamental part of life for my people. Green represents nature, the environment that we all live in, also it is the environment that our people rely on and take good care of because it provides us with a home. The sun represents life. The energy and strength we receive every single day. The strong and bold black pen and marker outlines are used as a reference to traditional image making and tattoo practices that are historically part of Polynesian art.