We recently connected with Fu’una and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Fu’una, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
In 2020, I relocated to Austin TX only 2 weeks before the world shut down. Because I was almost entirely alone in a new environment for the first two years of the pandemic, I was spending more time on social media. As a Chamoru living stateside, I’ve felt a strong diasporic longing for most of my life. My wish to connect was heightened by the isolation of the pandemic. I realized that through Instagram, I became more connected with others in the diaspora in a way I never was before. I decided to put out a call for models and reached out to a couple individuals I already knew I wanted to draw. This simple series of pastel paintings became a way to connect with other Pacific Islanders, and to learn about the passionate and inspiring people who were part of the project. They were more than just faces, they are people doing important community work and cultural work. I then used this collection and my platform as a way to talk about the disproportionate impact the pandemic was having on Pacific Islander communities in the United States. This is a body of work I hope to develop further, to continue to make our stories visible.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I create high-impact paintings that are developed through culturally-based and place-based creative research. I am driven by curiosity and a need to visually process what I absorb. Clients are often surprised by what they describe as “thoughtfulness.” Other times, my work can be humor driven, particularly when it’s created for a younger audience. My work is most recognizable for its vibrant palettes, its sense of order, and regular use of botanicals, animals, and text. I make use of scale and composition to create memorable statement pieces that receive lots of love over social media when found out in the wild.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
The books Creativity and Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi helped me understand myself as a creative from a psychology standpoint. Flow helped me to be more mindful of creating the conditions to establish a flow state so that I can be productive for extended periods of time.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I am skeptical with anything that seems too trendy or too good to be true. Several people encouraged me to make NFT’s but the concept just didn’t make sense to me. For one, the images were already being replicated in many ways (as jpegs, on social media, as gifs, etc). And second, physical pieces of art are already non-fungible, so why don’t people just buy art? I was also extremely concerned about the environmental impacts. I know some artists had some success with them and generally it is a good idea to experiment with new technologies. This is just one case where I don’t feel as if I missed out, especially after the recent reports.
Contact Info:
- Website: atelier-fuuna.com
- Instagram: @_fuuna_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atelierfuuna
- TikTok: @atelierfuuna