Dessa Bluu

I’m a multidisciplinary artist working across mosaic, painting, mixed media and writing. It took me a long time to grasp the true premise of my creative journey and to realise that making art for the sake of making was never enough for me. There had to be a connection, a reason, a way to express the quintessence of the who, what and why behind my work. Once I understood that, everything began to flow.

I use glass, paint and text as constellations of making. They’re the physical marks of marking, the emotional impressions of experience, the cultural imprints carried through my Samoan heritage and the developmental marks of becoming an artist. Together, they form the visual and narrative consequences of a life lived in creativity.

Residing in Tairua has been a defining chapter, a time surrounded daily by the ocean with nature at my back door. This environment has grounded me, sharpened my sense of connection and deepened the premise of my practice. The rhythms of this place have become part of the marks I make, part of the way I understand myself as an artist and part of the ongoing story my work continues to tell.