Your focal point alongside the Māori motifs, is to celebrate Te Reo Māori and Whakataukī (Māori proverbs) which adorn your works. It is a beautiful and unique way of honouring the taonga that is Te Reo Māori. How did you first come to weave this into your works?
Since I was young, I have been drawn to Māori art form, especially carving and moko. My first marriage was to a man from a beautiful whānau (Ngāti Wai) and being a part of that whānau had a big effect on me and my awareness of Te Ao Māori. I went on to raise our child away from that whānau and in my own home town, with an awareness of what he was missing out on and the 'casual racism' in the environment he was now in. I wanted to make a stand against that by bringing what elements of Te Ao Māori I could and as an artist, that was through art. I think art is a subtle but powerful way to bring awareness and a positive feeling towards unity. I love the visual look of words but have no original words of my own, a friend was teaching me some words in Te Reo and kihi kihi (kiss kiss) seemed perfect for fantails to be saying, and so it began.