Andy Leleisi'uao b. 1969

Works
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Elementary Trek, 2019
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Elementary Trek, 2019
    Acrylic on canvas
    152.5 x 152.5 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Ebony Shift, 2019
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Ebony Shift, 2019
    Acrylic on canvas
    153 x 101.5 x 4 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Incipient Meander, 2019
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Incipient Meander, 2019
    Acrylic on canvas
    153.5 x 152 x 6.4 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, A Displaced Amble, 2022
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    A Displaced Amble, 2022
    Acrylic on canvas
    101.5 x 61.2 x 4 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Sethol Village in Kamoa, 2020
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Sethol Village in Kamoa, 2020
    Acrylic on canvas
    50 x 40 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, An Amicable Sectariphilia, 2024
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    An Amicable Sectariphilia, 2024
    Acrylic on canvas
    150 x 120 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, A Placatory Schismaphilia, 2023
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    A Placatory Schismaphilia, 2023
    Acrylic on canvas
    150 x 120 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Dissident Trylapid II, 2023
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Dissident Trylapid II, 2023
    acrylic on canvas
    80 x 70 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Heterodox Them, 2023
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Heterodox Them, 2023
    Acrylic on canvas
    40 x 30 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Heterodox Together, 2023
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Heterodox Together, 2023
    Acrylic on canvas
    40 x 30 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Heterodox Us, 2023
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Heterodox Us, 2023
    Acrylic on canvas
    40 x 30 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Onyx Passage , 2019
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Onyx Passage , 2019
    Acrylic on canvas
    152.5 x 101.5 x 4 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Lexicon Calm II, 2023
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Lexicon Calm II, 2023
    acrylic on canvas
    50 x 40 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Uslandia III, 2023
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Uslandia III, 2023
    acrylic on canvas
    151 x 120 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Equinox Afternoon, 2022
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Equinox Afternoon, 2022
    Acrylic on canvas
    80 x 70 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Ulolpia Village in Kamoa, 2021
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Ulolpia Village in Kamoa, 2021
    Acrylic on canvas
    50 x 40 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Developing Excursion, 2019
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Developing Excursion, 2019
    Acrylic on canvas
    152.5 x 152.5 x 6.8 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Evolving Jaunt, 2019
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Evolving Jaunt, 2019
    Acrylic on canvas
    152.5 x 152.5 x 6.8 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Germinal Trail, 2019
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Germinal Trail, 2019
    Acrylic on canvas
    152.5 x 152.5 x 6.8 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Nascent Walk, 2019
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Nascent Walk, 2019
    Acrylic on canvas
    152.5 x 152.5 x 6.8 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, A Displaced Meander
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    A Displaced Meander
    Acrylic on canvas
    101.5 x 61.2 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, A Displaced Wanderer
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    A Displaced Wanderer
    Acrylic on canvas
    101.5 x 61.2 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, An Uncanny Catharsis of Unrequited Bones - Part VII
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    An Uncanny Catharsis of Unrequited Bones - Part VII
    Acrylic on canvas
    150 x 110 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Diaspora of Belief
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Diaspora of Belief
    Acrylic on canvas
    80 x 70 x 4 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Eve of Arophids
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Eve of Arophids
    Acrylic on canvas
    150 x 120 cm
  • Paper artwork by Andy Leleisi'uao
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Study IV
    Ink on paper
    21 x 29.5 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Study VII
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Study VII
    Ink on paper
    21 x 29.5 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Study VIII
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Study VIII
    Ink on paper
    21 x 29.5 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Unorthodox Lupotea III, 2023
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Unorthodox Lupotea III, 2023
    acrylic on canvas
    130 x 76 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Arc of Tracylops, 2022
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Arc of Tracylops, 2022
    Acrylic on canvas
    150 x 120 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Equinox Morning, 2022
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Equinox Morning, 2022
    Acrylic on canvas
    80 x 70 cm
  • Andy Leleisi'uao, Swarthy Motion, 2019
    Andy Leleisi'uao
    Swarthy Motion, 2019
    Acrylic on canvas
    152.5 x 101.5 x 4 cm
Biography
Andy Leleisi'uao grew up in Mangere, South Auckland.  His work is reflective of his experience as a New Zealand-born Samoan.

Andy was awarded a scholarship to attend AUT and received a Master of Fine Arts with honours in 2002. He has exhibited throughout New Zealand and has been involved in solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Rarotonga, Germany, Taiwan, and the USA.
 
In the late 1990s, Andy was awarded residencies at the Casula Powerhouse in Sydney, the MacMillian Brown Centre for Pacific Studies at the University of Canterbury, in 2009 the Asia NZ Foundation/Taipei Artist Village and recently McCahon House, Titirangi, 2010.  During these residencies Andy further developed works critiquing social, cultural, and political stereotypes and realities of Samoans in New Zealand from a New Zealand-born Samoan perspective. In 2018, Andy completed a 5 month residency at the International Studio & Curational Programme (ISCP) in New York City. His first survey exhibition, 'KAMOAN MINE', opened in 2019 at the TSB Wallace Arts Centre.

His unique iconography included such symbols as sockets that have been imprinted on the foreheads of struggling Samoan factory worker migrants in his Mangere community. Some works condemn abuse within the Samoan community as well as hypocrisy by church leaders. However, there is also a playful and hopeful side to his work which can be seen in through his Ufological paintings, a series of fantasy villages on an island where villagers ride moa and climb over hearts while spaceships import megalithic moai from Rapanui. Whether he is confronting the issues of Samoan diaspora or narratives of human and family relationships.
 
Andy draws inspiration from pop culture, world history and struggles from his own personal experiences. The story told through Andy's work reflects a united species that hold no concern for cultural, sexual or racial differences.  

In 2021, Andy was presented the Senior Pacific Artist award from Creative New Zealand.
Andy Leleisi'uao's work is included in the permanent collections of Pataka Museum and Art Gallery, Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, the Chartwell Collection, the Wallace Arts Trust collection, Casula Powerhouse, Sydney and the Museum of Ethnography, Frankfurt, Germany.
Exhibitions