Materials

French Polynesia’s land and ocean are as rich as each other: mother-of-pearl shell, Tahitian Pearls, wood, volcanic rock, flowered stone, bones and bark…

Each of these raw materials is transformed, worked and sculpted into a piece of Art.

This kind of work is long and tedious. One must wait for the wood to dry, for the flowered stone to fall from the cliffs, for the coconut to be ready for engraving.

In the hands of a skilled Artist, nothing about these raw materials is lost, only transformed and magnified.

Artist making a Polynesian Tiki
Making Polynesian Tiki from wood in the Marquesan islands

A special wood from the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific is full of native woods, one of which is the “Tou” (Oceania walnut tree) and its “waves” which give it its peculiar color and resemble the movements of the ocean.

Meanwhile, the flowered stone found in the Marquesas is one-of-a-kind.

Traditionally, the Artist must wait for it to fall of its own will before working it.

Once sculpted, the stone is then covered in “monoï”, to reveal its natural floral patterns.

Stone chosen to become a Polynesian Tiki
Polynesian Tiki made from a stone
Polynesian Tiki covered with monoi oil

No matter which raw material is used in the creation of this Art,
it inevitably becomes a distinctive piece of outstanding quality.