Renowned New Zealand artist and painter Andy Leleisi'uao has created a series of intimate small scale works based on the iconic Rubik's cube puzzle and game. 

"I started using the Rubik cube as a symbol in the mid 1990s. I replaced the colours with letters of the English alphabet which don’t exist in the Samoan alphabet: B, C, D, J, Q, W, X, Y and Z. My parents used to sponsor family members from Samoa who came to Aotearoa to find work. Like my parents they had to learn to speak English and it was difficult. Some didn’t recognise the extra letters of the alphabet and when speaking the closest pronunciation for example of the letter ‘B’ was ‘P’ or ‘C’ was ‘T’. From this early usage the Rubik cube’s role in my work has continually morphed in purpose and meaning. These Rubik versions are from 2012. The ideology behind these incomplete square rainbows were participatory. In that someone would use an actual Rubik cube to duplicate the same pattern from one of these works to sit alongside it or to add or complete it". 

Artist 

Andy Leleisi’uao grew up in Mangere, South Auckland. He has exhibited nationally and internationally and has had eighty five solo exhibitions to date including numerous group exhibitions. In 2017, he won the prestigious Wallace Art Award. Andy is represented by Artis Gallery in Auckland.