Ahota'e'iloa Toetu'u

Ahota’e’iloa Toetu’u Ahotae’iloa Toetu’u is a Tongan-born artist and teacher who lives and works in South Auckland. He holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the University of Auckland and is a Senior Art teacher at Sir Edmund Hillary collegiate. Toetu’u works in the medium of painting and has exhibited his works in several solo and group exhibitions in Auckland and two group exhibitions held in Tonga. Several of his works are heavily inspired by ngatu as a medium that records a time and place and particular events and histories. Many of his recent works pair kupesi with contemporary icons and silhouettes to create new conversations between the past and present. My works and images are drawn from my family and my Tongan heritage and culture. I saw ngatu, ta’ovala, woven mats and beautifully decorated dance attire. I took a minimal approach to the kupesi or Ngatu designs and the use of repetition of simple forms to create an illusion. Building from this understanding, I liked the way Tongan women combined traditional kupesi with modern figurative designs to create a narrative and used this to record a space and time of a particular event. So I saw the Ngatu as a large painting which depicted a special event or story and history, and so from this influence I introduced a more figurative approach to my paintings. Although I use modern mediums such as the canvas and paint I adopt the same concepts as the Ngatu by using traditional kupesi and also modern images of today to record this space and time.

• (Re) locating Home – Group exhibition, Fresh Gallery Otara; Alliance Francaise, Fiji.New Work – Solo exhibition at Nathan Homestead, Manurewa, Auckland.Graduate Exhibition – Solo exhibition as Aronui Gallery, Otara (MSVA)Kava Kuo Heka – Group exhibition, Nuku’alofa, Tonga.‘Ahota’e’iloa ‘The Day That Never Came – Solo exhibition, Mangere Arts Centre, Mangere, Auckland.No’o Fakataha exhibition – Group exhibition, Mangere Arts Centre, Mangere, Auckland.Future Building Or The Art Of Living Creatively, PapakuraAtenisi exhibition – Group exhibition, Nuku’alofa, Tonga.Ua Gau Le Sila, Tuku Ki Manono (When the sail breaks, take it to Manono) Fresh Gallery, Otara.2015 Tonga i Onopooni– Tonga Contemporary–Pataka Museum, Wellington (Also toured the South Island galleries).Hues, Dues and Residues- Nathan Homestead-Manurewa, Auckland.To Leave with Everything You Own- Pukekohe Steel Gallery, Pukekohe, Auckland.Moana, (Mural) South British Insurance Company Building, Auckland CBD.Fuka ‘oe Ikuna, Flags of Victory- Britomart Train Station Auckland CBDTongan Language Week Virtual Exhibition, Te Oro Community Centre, Glen Innes
• South-Versed -Group Exhibition, Fresh Gallery, Otara.Fehokotaki -Group Exhibition, St Pauls Gallery, AUT, CBD.South-Versed -Group Exhibition, Devonport Art Gallery, Devonport.Pasifika Art Group Exhibition, North Art, Auckland.Mural Exhibition -Scott Lawrie Gallery, Mt Eden.

Coached Rugby Teams as an Extra Curricular