EMILY GREENWOOD
“O MALU’I ‘A TUPOU”
ARTBOX FISHER LIBRARY, LEVEL 3 (2022)
Emily Greenwood, O maluʻi ʻa Tupou, 2022. Textiles. Images courtesy of Estelle Yoon.
ARTIST STATEMENT
If Eurocentric art history is the standard, O maluʻi ʻa Tupou recontextualizes the standard to fit Greenwood’s Pasifika diaspora’s postcolonial framework. Greenwood continues to unravel ancestral histories through their postcolonial lens. Juxtaposing their contemporary punk sub-cultural influences from the post-Modernist period with their ancestral history, Greenwood has made a series of Tongan flags, all unique with different approaches to mark making. Using punk art making processes, Greenwood draws aesthetic influences from contemporary Eurocentric cultural icons like the Pearly Kings and Queens of London and Queer culture’s drag aesthetics. Greenwood explores the tongue-in-cheek side of punk, with spray painted slogans like ‘oku ‘ikai ke u lava ‘o lea faka- Tongan’ (English translation: ‘I can’t speak Tongan’) or ‘liliu mei he Google’ (English translation: ‘Translated from Google’). This cultural adaption is meant to be a means of soft and palatable political rejection of the expectation of Pasifika assimilation into Western culture. A flag represents who you are. Greenwood claims many identities, the two important ones being a Tongan and a feminist punk. Because who else would make a Sex Pistol’s inspired Tongan flag, if it was not Greenwood? The Sex Pistols sang God Save The Queen, yeah God save Queen Sālote.
Emily Greenwood, O maluʻi ʻa Tupou, 2022. Textiles. Images courtesy of Estelle Yoon.
Emily Greenwood, O maluʻi ʻa Tupou, 2022. Textiles. Images courtesy of Estelle Yoon.
Emily Greenwood, O maluʻi ʻa Tupou, 2022. Textiles. Images courtesy of Estelle Yoon.
Verge Projects is a platform that aims to strengthen the University of Sydney community and networks through on-campus art activations. Verge Projects delivers community engaged projects led by and in collaboration with student and student groups. Stepping outside of art faculties and spaces, this program encourages inclusive and creative experiences campus wide.