Sione Monu
Tonga
About the Artist
Sione Tuivailala Monū is an artist of the Tongan diaspora. Born in Auckland they work across the mediums of photography, moving-image, fashion and adornment, performance and drawing exploring identity, family and pasifika queer experience in the diaspora.
Te Ara i Whiti
Eye Spy with My Little Eyes, 2024
I invite viewers to experience a blend of nostalgia and playfulness through a large-scale projection reminiscent of a monolith, inspired by cinematic visions of wonder and exploration. This piece serves as a modern homage to the childhood game that coloured my family trips into the city.Adorned with delicately hanging silver beads, captures the ever-changing sky and the shapes of passing clouds, evoking memories of innocence and imagination. As viewers engage with the video, they are invited into a share a dialogue with their own cherished memories of travel, family bonding, and a playful exploration of shapes and stories in the sky.The animated clouds dance and morph, allowing the audience to engage in the very game that inspired this work, calling upon their creativity and sense of wonder. My intention with “Eye Spy with My Little Eyes” is to create an immersive environment that encourages reflection on the beauty of familial connections and the warmth of shared experiences.
You can find “Eye Spy with My Little Eyes” at Te Ara i whiti from October 4 – October 13, 2024 at Kelvin and Marina Park.
