Johnny Penisula

Who is Johnny Penisula?

Johnny Penisula MNZM is a contemporary Samoan stone sculptor and painter living in New Zealand.

Penisula was born in Samoa and began painting when he was 13 years old. He moved to New Zealand in 1962 and set up home in Invercargill. He studied art at night classes and began exhibiting as a painter in 1972. As a sculptor, he experimented with a diverse range of sculptural materials including steel, aluminium, fibreglass, bone, argillite, greenstone and limestone before turning to his preferred medium of stone. His sculptures incorporate both traditional Polynesian and contemporary patterns, symbols that are significant in Pacific Islands history and culture.