Samuel Tupou is a print-maker based in Cairns, Australia. Born in New Zealand, and of Tongan heritage, Tupou’s work often combines traditional motifs from his Pacific Islander ancestry with found images from contemporary pop culture. Themes such as westernisation, immigration and personal identity characterise his work.

Pineapple Princess is from Tupou’s 2009 exhibition Somewhere in Time. This silkscreen print is typical of his work, featuring a figure in a bright and surreal landscape. The figure could represent the experience of many immigrant families whose new lives are filled with unfamiliarity and a sense of foreboding dislocation.

This sound composition imagines the way that Pineapple Princess perceives the surrounding landscape and cultural system. Shielded by the motorbike helmet she could be an astronaut on another planet, the sounds she hears belonging to an alien world.

To view more of Samuel Tupou’s work please visit his site.