Sisi Panikoula
SummarySisi Panikoula is a multidisciplinary designer from Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa. Although she grew up in Palmerston North, her Tongan native roots are in the village of Ha'avakatolo, Kolovai, Kolomotua, Tonga.
As an emerging creative Sisi has a background in Communication Design where she describes her work as intuitive, meaningful and experimental often challenging the brief and boundaries of Design. Her Tongan heritage serves as a important source of inspiration within her design process, fuelling her creative thinking into re-imagining Tongan Kupesi (patterns) using colour manipulation and digital media. Sisi intuitively experiments with Design Guidelines, Concepts and Rules to illustrate her experiences as a Tongan-born Kiwi navigating her cultural identity in Aotearoa.
Creative Process
The Faleship Residency has allowed me to continue current works of exploration delving into my culture through a series of iterations, collages and digital mediums.
Phase One: Analysing grid and lines of the Manulua
Growing up, I have always been drawn to the Manulua pattern, a pattern that represents two pairs of a bird’s wings. The symbol has always had a strong presence in my life, and only now, while I’ve entered this journey of positioning myself in my creative process, have I uncovered this connection.
The beauty of how a pattern like the Manulua has existed and used in the past and in the present remains a curiosity in my study. From my understanding, Tongan patterns hold a significance and are visual communication tool to preserve and depict Tongan culture.
Seeing a pattern like the Manulua being imagined from past to present to how it exists in spaces of today allows me to look at my experiences of living in urban times as a Tongan designer. The idea of how I could reimagine Tongan patterns in my world of ‘being’ in Aotearoa inspires my line of work where I am constantly left with the challenge of pushing conventional concepts of Design.
Phase Two: Phase Two: Experimental play with the Manulua through digital mediums
Using digital tools that let me create is where I find strength. These digital tools consist of cut-and-paste, adjusting, distorting, and overlaying which captures my interest in imagery manipulation. Throughout my works of art, I have always had an eye for Colour. The importance of using Colour intuitively was a simple method for me to implement, because again, I always pick what feels right and is compelling to the eye. In these iterations, colour acts as a tool to enhance the perception of the Manulua. I always consider what I want the audience to feel when I use colour, which can sometimes be as simple as feeling good.
Phase Three: Experimental Play with collage (workbook extractions)
My investigation in these iterations is centred on testing the perception of the Manulua or the number of times I can recreate a pattern inside a pattern. For me to interpret the past into the present and see what new patterns, shapes or textures may emerge from my experiments, I shift perception. My method starts with the pattern in its traditional form with the first step of emulating, layering, and working with various variations of the pattern using digital media. At times it feels like a puzzle where I create until it feels right with my intuition being heavily involved.
Here, I continue to take my printed iterations and cut and paste them on paper. I find this process easy to understand my ideas and to also explore different ways of imagining the Manulua.
Creative Workspace
My work allows me the flexibility to have multiple workspaces where I work from my laptop or any device, which is my main source of access to my creative outputs. To be honest, the first thing that comes to mind when I think about my workspace is my bed at home. I say this because my room is my safe space where my creativity blooms, flows, disappears, and inspires.
A space where I can be me. Although every now and then I always find myself in different spaces because it is also good to refreshen the mind. Looking back at where I spend most of my time creating, there are a few spaces that I cherish and play a part in my journey of my creative process and shaping who I am. My studio space is a limited place that feels like a sense home, a place where all my thoughts, ideas, findings, making, and experiments are placed and tendered for. My highlight about this workspace is the close relationships I have built; it helps to have people around to share your thoughts and ideas, as well as your struggles.
If I could describe my studio space in two words, it would be ‘controlled chaos’. It is a reflection of my mind outside my brain, with stacks of paper, materials, drawings, notes, pens, books, memorabilia, photos, snacks all what I consider chaos controlled on my desk.
Outside my studio space, and home I like to utilise third spaces that have community. It is important to me that wherever I am making, thinking or creating my surroundings encapsulates a sense of home, peace and comfort. Four Shells Kava Lounge is a place I find home in and familiarity. It is a space that provides an ambiance that allows you feel comfortable and relaxed, this brings me comfort to my creative processes, and well-being as well as deepening my understanding of people and culture. I am always learning wherever I am which is what inspires me the most—the people who I am surrounded by.
Fale-ship Questionnaire
What’s one word that describes your work?
Intuitive. A lot of my work is fueled by feeling and emotion, it's almost like my process taps into another frequency of feeling, which allows me to guide my hand in making. I also believe it's a part of being Tongan, one thing I noticed at a young age was my mother, and aunties cooking with no measurements or a cookbook just them and their knowledge and intuition. I feel like this is me and my work.
How does it feel to be showcasing your work from your creative space?
To be honest, I feel quite nervous yet excited because to me my work, and creativity is vulnerable—a side I tend to avoid showing but it has always been a place where I feel the happiest and most curious. Giving insight into my creative space is such an out of my comfort zone experience because the space between myself and my work is the one thing I find special to keep.
What were the highlights or moments of joy that you came across during your residency?
Most are my iterations are a continuation of one another, only regenerated in different ways. This is a highlight I am always looking forward to because in many ways it is almost problem solving my own creativity—how do I deepen what I have already made? How do I make this better, different than the previous one?
What challenges did you come across during your residency and how did you overcome them?
A challenge that was met during my residency was the change of focus in my project for what I initially had planned. My design practice requires a lot of pivoting moments and adaptability so in overcoming them I found meaning in my current projects to continue exploring.
Do you have any coping mechanisms or creative processes you use that help maintain your creative well-being?
Food and Great weather—Sun and warmth.
Food is my number one coping mechanism that is my fuel to maintain my creative well-being. I love a hot, sunny day because immediately it puts me in a positive mood to work, especially, enjoying the day outside and getting a break from the chaos.
What is inspiring you right now?
Right now, the unknown of what is yet to be discovered through my creative process is inspiring me to keep making and exploring.
How important is it to showcase the lived experiences of Pasifika artists?
Very important. Because there is a future of young Pasifika artists who are needing inspiration more than ever!
If you could invite anyone to have a seat at your table, who would it be and why?
My parents would be the first people I would invite to sit at my table. I say this because each time I find myself sitting at tables or navigating new spaces, I am always thinking about what would my parents do if they were sitting here and had the same opportunities?
What if they had the freedom to be who they wanted to be?
As first-generation immigrants from Tonga, they only had one purpose to come to Aotearoa—to provide for their families. For them, to begin a new life that served better for their children, took their time away from my childhood and so I understand their struggles differ from mine. Thankfully the roots of their hard work have made it possible for me to experience life in my own way and explore what I want to pursue therefore my table will always have a place saved for them.
What advice would you give to other Pasifika Practitioners who want to apply for future Fale-ship Opportunities?
Shoot your shot—you will never know what you will miss if you don't apply!
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