‘The dark current’ is a homage to my mother, Lusi Tiatia, who passed away in early 2023. She was one of the first generation of women who migrated to the cities of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand from the villages of the Pacific Islands in the 1960s.

My sitter Cassaerea Jesus channelled my mother’s expression: strong, calm and resolute. She is unaware of the water that surrounds her, which represents the vast personal and intergenerational changes my mother endured. This retelling of my mother’s story bears the universal humanity of migrants, a people who form pearls out of bravery and sacrifice from the grit of prejudice and perseverance.