Dangerous Desire (1991)
‘Dangerous Desire 1991’ (2023) by Yuki Kihara. Plastic doll, fabric and mixed media. 360mm (H) x 150mm (W). Part of ‘BERTHA’ (2023) exhibition by Yuki Kihara curated by Natalie King. Commissioned by the Powerhouse Museum Ultimo, Sydney. Courtesy of Yuki Kihara and Milford Galleries, Aotearoa New Zealand. Photo courtesy of Gui Taccetti.
“My dear friend, James Leuii, made this suit. In fact he has made a few of the dresses in this line up.
I wore this suit to the book launch of Dangerous Desires written by Peter Wells as I had appeared in his 1987 film, A Death in the Family. He asked me to read an excerpt at the book launch, shot by TV3 for their late news program. Unbeknown to me, my parents and younger sisters were watching the program. My mother said, ‘She looks like she could be our aiga (family).’ My mother proclaimed in anguish, ‘It’s all my fault…it’s from my aiga.’ It turns out my mother had two uncles who were Fa’afafine. We knew of my mother’s uncles who were artistic, musical and well respected, both of whom married and had children.
That next day, I went home for the family meeting and came out to my parents. My father was immediately accepting but my mother was not. Over time, she became accepting and even proud.”
-BERTHA aka Harold Samu