and so we find them all over the universe now
2023
This artwork was commissioned for an external recess of the Hayman Kronfeld Building, the former warehouse of my great-great-grandfather. Gustav and Louisa Kronfeld, a Jewish merchant and Samoan matriarch, migrated to Tāmaki Makaurau in 1890, raising their ten children in nearby Eden Crescent. This ʻula, or necklace, references their family home, which was named ʻOli ʻUla after a sweet-scented red flower. The ʻula is strung with fabric flowers and hand-moulded ceramic beads, which evoke natural forms in Sāmoa, such as shells, seed pods, stones, sand, and coral. There is a flower or bead for every descendant of Gustav and Louisa, and a special bead hangs at the centre for all those yet to come. The artwork takes its name from a reflection by my great-grandfather, Sam, on the familial network extending from Sāmoa to the world. It offers a reminder of the long-embedded stories and presence of Moana peoples in downtown Tāmaki Makaurau.