Page 34 - Fiji Traveller 2024 Issue 6

The first painting she made during this period shows the artist cropping her own
glorious buiniga (traditional hairstyle). Other imagery includes her yellow wedding
dress, elongated and rooted beds, and flowers and masks.
She says her favourite work, Consider the Lilies of the Field, in which a masked
Elliott stands before a wallpaper of ‘local lilies’ or anthuriums, reflected her reading of
the bible, and in particular, God’s urging of his people not to be anxious.
Elliott says this message reassured her during Covid.
She’s now looking forward to new work, while acknowledging her artistic and
genealogical ancestry.
“All of us artists, we do not operate in isolation. We come from a long line, we are
descended from a long geological family tree of artists and creatives. And we stand
on the backs of these people that have gone before.
“I totally believe that because this was the way my mother taught me. She used
to say in a different context, ‘Sue, you're going to New Zealand…always remember
when you're out in the world, representing your country and New Zealand, remember
those of us in your family back in Fiji, that you represent us. How you present yourself
out there, remember you represent your ancestors that have gone before. We are
all there around you.' That was an amazing thing for my mother to gift me that. Don't
think you are all alone, we are all around you.”
Elliott continues to call on her ancestors as her sources and inspiration. “I’m just
buzzing with ideas for new work,” she says.

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