Biography
Filipe Tohi was born in Ngele‘ia, Nuku‘alofa, Tonga, and immigrated to New Zealand in 1978. His contemporary paintings and sculptures are imbued with his Pacific island heritage. Filipe is a master craftsman of the traditional art of lalava (the Tongan art of binding with coconut sennit) while his sculptures
reflect a pan-Polynesian aesthetic that he sees as a means of fostering understanding between cultures.
Tohi’s work speaks not only of his homeland of Tonga, but the experiences of migrating and living in New Zealand. He works with a wide variety of media from wood, stone, and wool to industrial materials such as steel and perspex. Filipe uses natural media to represent the past and steel as a contemporary
component. As he has stated:
"For me, stainless steel represents the shiny new structures in the modern world. Wood is based more in tradition - in natural things from our environment."
Filipe has worked at an international level since carving his first commission for the New Zealand Embassy in Saudi Arabia in 1987. Two years later, he held his first solo exhibition at the Govett Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth, New Zealand. Filipe instructed many students during his years at Rangimarie
Arts and Crafts Centre and was a founding member of the Te Kupenga Stone Sculpture Society in New Plymouth. He has been a full time artist since
1990 and has participated in numerous exhibitions around the world including the United Kingdom, Lithuania, France, Germany, the U.S.A, and Japan. Filipe has had major public sculptures in New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Japan, and China.
In 2023 he became a New Zealand Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate. This is a prestigious award recognising his contribution to sculpture.