Leanne Joy Lupelele Clayton 

Leanne Joy Lupelele Clayton is a multifaceted artist whose primary medium is printmaking, but that doesn’t stop her from creating wearable art and sculpture. Leanne grew up in a colourful and creative household. Her grandparent’s house in Mt Eden stood out on a street of homes all painted white with tame manicured gardens, it was turquoise and surrounded by gardens brimming with banana trees, taro leaves, and bright red hibiscus. Leanne’s grandparents nurtured her creativity. Leanne would help her grandmother who hand printed on calico; she would go to Auckland Hospital to get x-ray sheets which her grandmother would use to create stencils. Leanne became very interested in motifs and patterns and by age 12 she refit dresses to make her own clothing.

Bitter and sweet

This affinity for designs and re-cycling materials re-emerged when Leanne began art courses after the youngest of her 6 children started school. During a Certificate in Visual Arts Level 4 course at Manukau Institute of Technology, Leanne connected with printmaking because the repetition of printmakers such as Andy Warhol reminded her of tapa’s repetitive motifs. More so, printmaking reminded her of her artistic grandmother who was first encouraged Leanne’s creativity. She went on from the Level 4 course to complete a Bachelor of Visual Design and Masters of Fine Arts at Auckland University of Technology, receiving prestigious scholarships along the way.  

Penu

Leanne’s art is about her family. She explains, “I see myself in a cycle, I am doing the things that my grandmother did. I am doing it myself with a contemporary take. My artcelebrates the work that our mothers did.” The Bodice Quilt" is inspired by the arts and crafts of Pacific women. The mixed media installation piece was driven by a need to understand her tatau which included symbols of the malu (traditional women’s tatau). Fa‘a malu literally means to shelter oneself from the rain and this work also expresses the cultural meaning of fa‛a malu by symbolizing the responsibility of males in Samoan society to protect and care for females. Leanne began sketching tatau designs and motifs which evolved into bodices formed out of felt to create a three dimensional feminine form. Arranging the bodices in a grid, Leanne references the repetition found in tapa as well as the fala’s natural fibres woven in unison and tivaevae’s patterns of embroidered motifs that each tell stories of the Pacific Island women who create them.

Bodice Quilt

Another dimension was brought into the work when Leanne discovered that someone had pushed in the breasts of the felt bodices. Because of this disruption, Leanne began embroidering patterns to visually represent the malu and conceptually represent the puncturing of skin and triumph over physical pain to face life and serve the community. Adding a fala (woven mat) and scattering the flowers of a silk ula lei as well as umbrellas, Leanne created movement in this installation work about the journey – Leanne’s journey and discovery as well as the journey of women. The Bodice Quilt is a complex and delicate reflection of women, fagogo (Samoan story telling) and genealogies. Leanne’s art is also about collaboration. She relishes the experience of working with others, evident in her recent role as curator which unites her creative eye with her contagious enthusiasm for art.

Ivy

For The Greatest Idiot in New Zealand (a competition looking for a loving and compassionate character), Leanne collaborated with Ivy Smith. Leanne found inspiration in Ivy’s dedication to underprivileged youth and Ivy’s unique moko (facial tattoo), a combination of Maori, Asian, and Samoan designs, became the visual inspiration. Leanne used designs from Ivy’s moko and affixed them onto a mu’umu’u (dress). Leanne’s art is a unique reflection of her own journey which celebrates the creativity and work of her grandmother and generations past, present and future. This celebration of the cycle of creativity is materially demonstrated through her use of ‘ie lava lava and materials with previous lives that experience another cycle in Leanne’s art.

Leanne’s work has been included in many exhibitions throughout New Zealand and internationally in 2008 in Le Folauga at Kaohsiung Museum in Taiwan. Her work can be seen at Okaioceanikart and Pauanesia in Auckland and Pataka Museum in Porirua, Wellington.