Samiu Napa’a’s photo-realistic portraits are cross-cultural studies mapping the acclimatisation of Tongans in New Zealand.

Samiu is the youngest in his family; he travelled with his mother from the village of Fua’amotu to Auckland in 1997 to join the majority of his family already settled here. From seventh form painting with Ian George at Hillary College in Otara, Samiu went on to complete a Certificate of Art & Design at Whitecliff College which later progressed to a University of Auckland Bachelor of Visual Arts. The concept of portraiture suggests a measure of respect and grandeur that as captured so stunningly in the