Meet the 21-Year-Old Inking Pacific Culture on New Zealanders

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The first person Matiah ever tattooed was her father, Terry Koloamatangi Klavenes. He must've liked it, because now the two work side by side at the contemporary Māori and Pacific Small Axe Studio, where the duo design, paint, and tattoo. Matiah lives in South Auckland's Manurewa, one of the most diverse parts of the country, which has set her up for life, she says. "You see so many different people from so many different backgrounds doing so many different things."

Matiah, 21, is Māori, Tongan, and Norwegian, and it is her Pacific heritage, in particular, that drives the artistic practice behind Small Axe. As Terry explains, "We definitely look at the past for inspiration, and we look at it as our starting point—always—but we're really interested in how we can have our voice in there."

If her art is about the melding the traditional and the contemporary, the fast-approaching election is all about looking forward, and insuring your voice is heard. "Voting means you have more of an input into what your future might look like… it's important for us to have our say in what's going on, and I know that some countries they don't have that opportunity so we're kind of lucky in that way," Matiah says.