Leleisi’uao is an Auckland-born based artist. In the 1990s his work has traversed the diasporic consequences and frustrations of being a first generation Aotearoa-New Zealand born Samoan within his community. Avoiding traditional Pacific Island and tapa cloth imagery he created his own iconography to explore his concerns and dreams. In a mid-career shift during the early 2000s Leleisi’uao’s work transcended towards more universal themes with alofa as the continuing link throughout his work.