Japanese, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Unu, Waikato, Raukawa, Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Mutunga

Emiko is a multidisciplinary artist whose works often explore themes of identity and indigeneity from both her Japanese and Māori whakapapa. Recently she has been exploring the intimacies of muka, and reflecting on Te Pā Harakeke as an extension of her own whānau. Over the past couple of years Emiko has been exploring whakapapa as a resource and education base to frame her works and reframe her understanding of time, seeing this as an act of resistance and critique of Western constructs, often with a tongue and cheek tone. Emiko grew up in the Waikato and after living away returned when she was Hapū with her first pēpi. This series of Hapū portraits explore themes of identity, whakapapa and place, bodies growing and living on dispossessed whenua, devastated by cows. An amalgamation of cultural clashes, appropriating Waikato Cowgirl, reframing the narrative as offerings for the next generation.