Island lineages. Beginning with issues that are close to her heart, Leilani's art expresses and reflects the human condition in a way that is powerful, soulful, and modest. It is always an integral reflection of her life. In 2004 Leilani addressed the spiritual consequences of the Foreshore and Seabed Bill for MÄori. Entitled Te Kiri Haehae, the multimedia installation addresses how the loss of the Bill was like the loss of family for MÄori because to be cut off from land is to be cut off from ancestral ties and knowledge. This use of the body and water have become visual tropes symbolic of Leilani’s work. This is emphasised in her work Ariki, 2007 and again in NgÄ Hau E WhÄ â€“ The Four Winds, 2011.
Leilani's art touches upon the social and spiritual and work. In 2008 as her father Richard Kake was dying, not knowing what to do, Leilani instinctively picked up her camera, putting it between her and the devastating passing of her father. There was anger amongst her family that Leilani could go against MÄori tradition and record the events but knowing her father's constant encouragement of her art Leilani kept filming. After her father's burial, the footage helped Leilani to heal. Tino Rangatira Tanga is not so much about death as it is about life. The installation calls the audience into the space where three monitors create a semi-circle around the viewer. The monitors play footage of Richard Kake receiving his Ta Moko Rangatira (chiefly facial tattoo) with boys performing a MÄori chant paying homage to their chief followed by a hangi (feast) to celebrate the event; the last days of his life and funeral; and a compilation of photographs of Richard and whanau (family) through the years. This is Leilani's tribute to her father's memory. This work, like the others, is healing part of Leilani's journey through her art.
Leilani has exhibited in a number of group and solo exhibitions including: The Perpetual Flux of Transitional Otherness, Olly, 2017; Home AKL, Auckland Art Gallery, 2012; NgÄ Hau E WhÄ â€“ The Four Winds, Fresh Gallery Otara, 2011; Native Coconut, Fresh Gallery Otara, 2010; Tino Rangatira Tanga, Wellington, Auckland 2009 – 2010;Pan Pacific Nation, Marks Garage, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2009; Le Folauga, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan, 2009; I Te Marama – Into the Light, Nathan Homestead, Auckland, 2008; Ariki / Talking Tivaevae, MIC Toi Rerehiko Media & Interdisciplinary Arts Centre, 2008; Longitude, The Art Studio, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 2007; (Re)Locating Home, Alliance Française de Suva, Fiji / Fresh Gallery Otara, Auckland, 2006; South Contained Unit, ArtNet Gallery, Auckland, 2004; Red Earth Project, Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, 2001.
Profile Image Credit: Sangeeta Singh