Artist and community worker, Jaq Brown is Ngāti Manuhiri, Fijian, Sāmoan, Hawaiian and Pākehā. Born in Aotearoa and based in London Jaq Brown draws from her Pacific Island heritage and culture in her work with making lei and hosting workshops to facilitate cultural exchange. Jaq has been and continues to be the lei maker in residence for the In*ter*is*land Collective. 

Ko’u Aloha is my offering of love. The practice of making lei is an intimate and disciplined process of aloha, remembering and time spent. I create these lei as a way to communicate the deep love I have for where I am from and those I interact with. In the same way in which a double helix is intertwined; these lei are woven together with the ancestral knowledge I hold and the love I have to give. The fabric of each lei has a part of myself, my soul and my spirit woven into them. After sending a video update of my work in progress to my cousin Cassandra Gibbs-Low she replied with; “Just like that lei you and I are woven together through blood and love and we will be forever”. The act of offering lei to others is a ritual of giving, receiving and adding to the layers of love and protection within our community. My work is a tangible form of love that holds all the intangible meanings of what love is. We adorn each other with lei as a way to honour a connection to our past and celebrate each other. 

— Jaq Brown, Artist Statement

The Water Tastes Different Here is on at Tautai Gallery till July 30 2022