Ayla Brockes, Breaths of pule’oto and Treasure(d), 2026, white raku clay, clear glaze, fine river sand.

In my work I’ve used pule’oto (cowrie shells), iconic symbols to Tongan culture and other Pacific societies. They are integral in teunga tau’olunga (attire for tau’oluga), where there is often a kahoa pule’oto (cowrie necklace) that sits on the neck of Tongan girls and women performing. Pule’oto are also part of the bracelets worn during the performance, highlighting the movements made while dancing. They are also widely considered a symbol of purity. In the making of this project, I have drawn on pule’oto as a symbol for my femininity as a Tongan-palangi young woman.

With each embodied shift in the tau’oluga, the shell is carried with the dancer. I have noticed that the pule’oto commands space within movement, which has led me to developing an understanding on how I take up space as being Tongan and a woman. I draw a connection between the pule’oto and I, both vessels of holding space while we move through environments. I am highlighting the agency of space within a pule’oto, and trying to establish and develop my own within the environments I find myself in. I haven’t lived as a woman for very long.

The smaller pule’oto – “breaths of pule’oto”, are pressed clay into a casting of my lips so that the shell opening looks like a human mouth. I have used clay to sculpt and draw on the environment and how aspects of vessels/bodies can be connected within the living world; in this case pule’oto and I. My intention for viewers who come across this installation is to press the lips of the ‘shells’ up to their ears, an action that mimics listening to a seashell as you hear the moana. My own take is that you are listening to the pule’oto’s breath, also highlighting the relationship of the body to the natural environment.

This is especially true for the bigger pule’oto sculpture Treasure(d), which I have crafted to be much bigger than the mouths. By enlarging your stereotypical pule’oto, I’ve implemented my own autonomous play with the detail and expectation of what you would normally see. The teeth that line the lips protruding from the smooth surface of the top, almost look like they’re reaching out. Through sculpting and pressing, I’m using my own hands to form the structure that mimics the body, developing the concept of relating to the environment through the natural material of the clay.

Ultimately, I hope to continue to honour myself and further utilise my autonomy as I breathe and shift between the spaces I enter.