Siona and Luka
Loila Solomona, 2025
39.2 x 21.7 - acrylic on triple-layer 7mm plywood
Funafuti, Tuvalu
39.2 x 21.7 - acrylic on triple-layer 7mm plywood
Funafuti, Tuvalu
How does the traveller see it?
(Fragment of a post from a Facebook page)
The artist met me with brush in hand; he was busy working on a canvas depicting Jesus (which I had to wait til the next day to fully see).
I’d like to see your work, I’m a collector –– I started off with my usual speech.
The artist showed me a few landscapes with palm trees, typical art for islands in the region.
I need people, traditions, a plot –– I explained to him my own interests. The painting has to contain a puzzle. Just this one, then –– he handed me something from his drawing board –– but it isn’t done, he added.
Adam and Eve was the first thing that came to mind (I had already bought a similar diptych in Niger, just without the bicycle).
What’s the painting called? The artist shrugged. I said let’s use typical Tuvalan names. A boy’s name and a girl’s name.
Siona and Luka, said the author after a bit of thought.
Why won’t Luka help Siona carry the coconuts, I asked. She would have an easier time.
That’s not a ‘she’, answered the artist and guide in synchrony. These are two men!
But that’s clearly a man –– I began to argue.
No, they’re wearing lavalava skirts.
Oh wow, a whole backstory was unfolding here! After buying the work I asked my guide: so women can’t wear lavalavas?
They can, he said. But they tie them up differently.
The next day I encountered the artist’s work once again, in church this time. During a ceremonial service his (now-finished) canvas with Jesus was hanging behind the pastor’s back. Is the path from Adam to Eve a far one?
I’d like to see your work, I’m a collector –– I started off with my usual speech.
The artist showed me a few landscapes with palm trees, typical art for islands in the region.
I need people, traditions, a plot –– I explained to him my own interests. The painting has to contain a puzzle. Just this one, then –– he handed me something from his drawing board –– but it isn’t done, he added.
Adam and Eve was the first thing that came to mind (I had already bought a similar diptych in Niger, just without the bicycle).
What’s the painting called? The artist shrugged. I said let’s use typical Tuvalan names. A boy’s name and a girl’s name.
Siona and Luka, said the author after a bit of thought.
Why won’t Luka help Siona carry the coconuts, I asked. She would have an easier time.
That’s not a ‘she’, answered the artist and guide in synchrony. These are two men!
But that’s clearly a man –– I began to argue.
No, they’re wearing lavalava skirts.
Oh wow, a whole backstory was unfolding here! After buying the work I asked my guide: so women can’t wear lavalavas?
They can, he said. But they tie them up differently.
The next day I encountered the artist’s work once again, in church this time. During a ceremonial service his (now-finished) canvas with Jesus was hanging behind the pastor’s back. Is the path from Adam to Eve a far one?
And what do you think?