Second-Generation BYU Artist Blends Ancestral Roots With Digital Craftsmanship
BYU student artist Talavou Malietoa Fitisemanu III bridges past and present through his art, merging Polynesian heritage with modern innovation. A former football player turned visual storyteller, Fitisemanu uses design, woodwork and digital tools to honor his Samoan and Tongan roots.
“My name is Talavou Malietoa Fitisemanu III, the son of Geraldine and Alema Fitisemanu,” he said. “I belong to the villages of Sapapali’i, Samoa, and Neiafu, Tonga. I came to college to play football but am leaving to create across the world.”
His creative work focuses on legacy; on how stories, symbols and craftsmanship preserve identity across generations. “My work tells the story of who I am, where I come from and where I am going,” he said. “A navigator by blood and practice.”
Fitisemanu believes that art lives within every human being who searches for meaning. “I believe art only exists within humans as we seek and form meaning in life,” he said. “As I use agency I create, whether in the studio, on the field or in business. Patterns of the Pacific as a visual language and lifestyle influence my work.”
Those “patterns of the Pacific” appear throughout his projects as a reflection of both culture and worldview. Repeating shapes echo the movements of waves, stars and sails. They are reminders of the navigators who crossed vast oceans guided only by the sky. For Fitisemanu, these motifs represent more than design elements; they are acts of remembrance.
In Professor Brian Christensen’s class, Fitisemanu has been exploring ways to translate those traditional forms through technology. His current project transfers hand-drawn illustrations of Samoan history onto wooden surfaces using CNC machinery. The process combines ancestral art with digital precision, allowing the ancient and the modern to coexist on a single plane.
“This process reflects the evolution of art and traditions as technologies and cultures stay at the heart,” he said. “I’m creating relationships across the world to learn more about where fellow Pasifika have voyaged to. Their stories inspire my work as I make connections to those who have come before me and prepare for those who will come after me.”
Each step of his journey connects to a broader lineage. “My journey is not my own but is shared across my family’s lineage,” he said. “Though as the active flag-bearer of the Fitisemanu bloodline, I add to the legacy and canvas.”
Born and raised in the United States, Fitisemanu embraces the dual perspective of a second-generation immigrant. His art becomes a meeting point between home and heritage, between the land he stands on and the islands he carries within him. “As a second-generation immigrant to the USA I am never far from home as I remember my land of belonging,” he said.
Fitisemanu hopes his work reminds others of their own strength and inheritance. “They are empowered and come from strong histories of sacrifice,” he said. “Stand on those shoulders with pride and create with divine clarity.”
That sense of clarity, for him, comes from gratitude and faith. “We are taking the art, culture and spirit across the globe,” he said. “Bridges will be built and people will be celebrated. With the one life I have, adventures will be had, friends will be made and the art will point to the source of light.”
