'My Pacific heritage is central to my work, serving as both a source of inspiration and a means of communication. Through material experimentation and conceptual inquiry, I seek to honor and recontextualize Sāmoan artistic legacies within a contemporary creative landscape.'
Sapati Mossiah Avei Fina’i is a multidisciplinary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, with ancestral ties to the villages of Fasito‘outa and Nofoali‘i, Upolu, Sāmoa. Raised in West Auckland within a household shaped by music, craft, and community, Fina’i’s early exposure to creative expression has informed a practice that continues to evolve across diverse media.
His work draws on the motifs, narratives, and material traditions of Sāmoan culture, reimagined through contemporary processes. Fina’i works across woodworking, sculpture, drawing, digital fabrication, and musical instrument-making, exploring the intersection of cultural inheritance and artistic innovation. His practice foregrounds material experimentation as a means to reframe and extend Sāmoan visual languages within present-day contexts. Through this approach, Fina’i reflects on the dynamic nature of cultural identity, positioning his work within an ongoing conversation between tradition and contemporary practice.