Page 37 - Fiji Traveller Issue 1

Travels in art

Warwick Marlow on turning trash to cash,

and bringing Fijian art into hotel suites

Words and photos by Sera Tikotikovatu-Sefeti He recalls that after a world trip and a stop in Los Angeles,
his family ended up in India. “You can imagine witnessing, at a
Walking into the domain of an artist is an incredible feeling. young age, LA and then the slums of India. At a really young age,
Everywhere you look is a mirror of the artist’s beautiful mind, it impacted on me that there was something completely wrong
every corner demanding to be noticed. with the way the world was working or not working. I recognised
This is certainly the case when you step foot into Warwick it quite young. I was nine years old at the time,” Marlow said.
Marlow’s abode, decorated with his handywork, from recycled “I think that experience went on to really inform my whole life’s
plastic bottles spun into beautiful flowers, gorgeous leaf jewellery work,” he added.
and fish swimming up a wall, to pieces of art reflecting different He worked in tourism for a while, dreaming of becoming a hotel
spiritual guides, a portrait of himself as a baby, and various manager. But then he changed direction to take up industrial
beautiful objects made by other women. design with an architectural firm, then graphic design, before he
However, the biggest statement of all is his love for the colour started practising art full-time. In 1987, he was fortunate to join
purple. The walls, his t-shirt, and even his reading glasses are a group at the University of the South Pacific to train with the
different shades of purple, a colour usually associated with famed Vanuatu-based artist, Nicolai Michoutouchkine.
mystery, spirituality and imagination. Michoutouchkine was a French artist of Russian origin, who
Marlow was exposed to the world of art at a young age by collected Pacific art for over 60 years. Marlow said training with
his mother, the first Miss Hibiscus, Liebling Elizabeth Marlow, Michoutouchkine and his wife, who is from Wallis and Futuna, at
herself an artist who has exhibited in Fiji, France, Australia, and their art-filled property was inspiring.
other countries. Her love for art inspired both her sons, Craig and “Whatever benefit that flowed to their property soon flowed to
Warwick, whose lineage can be traced back to Rotuma, Samoa, the community in a sustainable way. That kind of imprinted on
Scotland, Germany, and England. me quite early, and I went permanently into fashion design, in
“I suppose it started from the beginning,” Marlow said. “Mum fabric printing, and the natural extension to that was jewellery
was very creative. We had a house filled with pets and craft designing,” he continued.
materials.” But Marlow said he also wanted to impact the waste stream
However, the work with plastic bottles Warwick is known for and management. “Everywhere I looked, I just saw mountains
stems from an experience he had as a child, seeing two different of waste. It seemed to be the problem was not unsolvable;
worlds and ways of life, and deciding to do something about it. it just needed some injection of creative imagination and
using the creative industry as the vehicle to empower entire
A life’s work neighbourhoods, just by giving them the skills they needed to
“We weren’t wealthy, but we were privileged in the sense that pick up the rubbish and [turn it] lially from trash to cash,” said
my father worked for Air New Zealand and earned local wages,” Marlow.
Marlow explained.
“So, at a very young age and in very quick succession, I got Trash to cash
to see the highlights of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, because my Marlow seeks to inspire, empower, and share his talent so that
parents had friends who were actors. We got to live with them in others can make a difference in their own lives.
Bel-Air and got to see that upper end of the market.” He has worked with South Pacific Tourism Organisation as a

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