Manuēsia - White Bird- White Angel

MANUESINA WHITE BIRD-WHITE ANGEL

"I noticed this bird trapped in your imagination, so set I it free." Sēmisi 2016

Restoring Balance, Manuēsina metaphorically interrogates our understanding of current world conflicts

Manuēsina the white bird, the white angel, extends our collective glimpses into imaginations of our surroundings, defining a deeper understanding of our common links.

Semisi Potauaine's sculpture Manuēsina has been selected for headland Sculpture on the Gulf 2017 but he needs your help. Sculpture on the Gulf is New Zealand's foremost outdoor sculpture exhibition, and aims to make a unique contribution to the cultural life of New Zealand Aotearoa by creating opportunities for people to experience the power and beauty of contemporary sculpture in the landscape.

Manuēsina reflects Tāmaki Makaurau, or Auckland, as one of the biggest capital cities of the Moana Pacific and echoes aspects of Tongan knowledge, thinking, and practice. The sculpture's form reflects Tongan cultural understandings - the upper parts offer the impression of a bird plunging from the sky, while the bottom suggests taking off for flight. When birds are out fishing in the sea or ocean, there is always a manu vakai (watching bird) above while the others are busy fishing. As soon as the manu vakai spots danger, it immediately plunges downward sounding a warning call, allowing ample time for the flock of fishing birds to safely escape.

Manuēsia is an artwork of tufunga tongiukamea (steel-cutting) and is based on the old Tongan kupesi, manulua (two-birds-flying), where manulua are mirror images of one another. The constant movement between abstraction and representation is a permanent motion between time and space, and also between form and content. As with all of Sēmisi's work, Manuēsia is therefore four dimensional (4-D), made up of the four dimensions of time and space. These four dimensions are: form, length, breadth/width, and height/depth, where the first one is linked to time and the last three to space.

Manuēsina resonates across cultures, seeking to bring new light to the plight of environmental, psychological and social conflicts that enslave us in our everyday lives. Knowledge is contained in culture, communicated in language, and enlightens our self-awareness. A better understanding of ourselves means we are more aware of our surroundings, where both are inseparably linked.

Sēmisi is seeking support to develop and create Manuēsina. Your donation will directly contribute to the seed funding needed to get this work off the ground, and hopefully on to the Sculpture on the Gulf track in January. The total cost of constructing the sculpture is $30.000. 

About the Artist: Sēmisi Fetokai Potauaine was born and raised in Tonga and is now based in Aotearoa New Zealand. He has NDAT and MArch (1st class Hons) qualifications in Architecture. Sēmisi is an New Zealandly renowned multimedia artist working in a range of art forms from architecture, sculpture, painting, tattooing, plaiting, graphic designing and book illustrations. He has exhibited New Zealandly.

The uniqueness of Sēmisi's multimedia artistic practices are founded on Tongan kupesi or geometric designs that are theorised and practiced in terms of Tongan knowledge of tā (time) and vā (space). Sēmisi interrogates his subject matter by constantly mediating conflicts in the creative process, transforming them from a condition of chaos to a state of order through sustained symmetry and harmony to create beauty.

For further information on the exhibition and to see Sēmisi's artist profile visit: http://sculptureonthegulf.co.nz/artist/semisi-fetokai-potauane/