'Pasifika peoples come in all sizes, shapes, and colors, and that’s something I love exploring in my work.'
This Artist Creates Jaw-Dropping Depictions Of Pacific Islander Women, And You've Got To See This For YourselfMeet Luca, a mixed Tongan artist who was born in Fiji and lives in Onehunga, Aotearoa . The 24-year-old creates breathtaking portrayals of Pacific Islander women, and hisAs a Samoan woman who frequently laments the lack of PI representation in the US, I immediately fell in love with their art. So, I reached out to Luca, wanting to know more about them and their work.
Their childhood in Tonga featured a"strong, beautiful, and fierce" matriarchal presence that heavily influences their art today."Besides growing up with my boy cousins and the rare sighting of an uncle, I was vastly surrounded by a village of women. It’s very important to me to provide accurate representation for Tongan and all Pasifika women. Pasifika peoples come in all sizes, shapes, and colors, and that’s something I love exploring in my work.
When asked if their queer identity has influenced their art, Luca said,"In more complex ways than people imagine! I was always a very feminine child, and so I was frequently labeled a fakaleitī growing up by family and strangers alike, mostly affectionally and sometimes in a more teasing fashion." He recalled dressing in dresses, skirts, and heels that were three sizes too big to perform hulas for his family.
"My art now is a continuation of that love of expression of femininity for me. My identity is still a work in progress to this day, but it’s no longer a struggle or something I feel the need to explain, thanks to the beautiful people around me. It can be a little shock to my system sometimes to have strangers understandably reduce me to a white, cis man, but my queer identity is my own, and that’s not something that can ever be stripped away from me.
Even beyond the avatar creator, his art has sparked an outpouring of appreciation from the community. He said,"I really do love making people happy. That is what brings me life fulfillment and value at the end of the day. The messages I get from people on IG pouring their hearts out about how happy they feel to have found my art, that they feel seen and loved and the connections I make with them. It’s genuinely priceless and makes my entire day every time.
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