"MARAMA NI VITI"
("Fijian Woman")

SIZE: 32 x 43 cm
MEDIUM: Dyes and metallic gold gutta on white silk
PRICE CATEGORY: O

A portrait of an island woman
with a traditionally-shaped earthenware pot,
waves, fish, and hibiscus flower
woven into the design.

This painting was inspired by the rugged beauty of Taveuni women
living in my husband's seaside village.
The glamour surrounding women of the South Seas from a distance
starts to fade a little when you realise how hard most of them have to work,
propping up the subsistence lifestyle of their villages with their sweat and care.
In addition to childcare, a woman's daily chores include
carrying water, collecting firewood, gardening,
washing clothes in the nearby creek, cooking over an outdoor fire,
and standing waste-deep out on the reef for long hours
catching fish for dinner with a line wrapped around an old bottle.

Yet these women are always quick to flash a radiant smile,
to hoot with laughter at a joke retold,
to absorb in long-remembered detail the stories of a visitor,
and to go about their chores with a colorful tropical flower tucked behind the ear!