Samoan artist in New York: ‘I am constantly reflecting on my past to move forward’

Multimedia artist Anna Mayo also known as Bam Brooks (Samoa, Tonga) has a wisdom beyond her years that is hard to crystalise into words.

Her craft sprawls from theatre and writing to puppet making, illustration and videography – but it's what drives her boundless un-boxable talent that makes her unstoppable.

Born and adopted in the United States she grew up moving around from Kentucky to Texas to Florida and has spent the past two years in New York.

Far from the motherland and raised by non-Samoan parents her artistic expression packs a powerful depth as she grapples with longing and joy in equal measures.

“I am Samoan, and while there’s not a whole lot of Samoans generally in comparison to other populations of the world, there’s certainly not many Samoans where I primarily grew up in Jacksonville, Florida,” says Mayo.

“I was adopted pretty much the second I was born and I actually did not meet another Polynesian until I was 14 years old.”

Comic illustration by Anna Mayo (Bam Brooks). Photo/ Supplied

Her journey with the arts started in elementary school with instruments and theatre steadily continuing through to learning photography and videography before she eventually decided to study theatre at university.

More recently Mayo has moved into comic making and has signed a contract to illustrate a children’s book of Samoan proverbs with Pepe Faitau Books the first Samoan board book company in the world.

Reflecting on being adopted, Mayo is careful in how she navigates the complexities of belonging.

“When I think of family I think of my parents, my extended family, but then my second thought is of my biological family, the parts that I know of and the parts that I don’t know,” says Mayo.

“All this to say that I think in my art lately I’ve liked to explore the feeling of yearning, the feeling of searching. I am constantly reflecting on my past to move forward and it becomes a really interesting place to make art from if I feel I don’t have a lot of the answers I want from my past.”

Mayo starred in Let It Happen a film by Alexandra Arredondo that premiered at the Athena Film Festival earlier this year, before playing Mendel in the theatre show INDECENT by Paula Vogel at the Lincoln Center.

Her Instagram account comics underscore daily life in New York – a dead bird on the fire escape, snatches of conversation, thespian in-jokes, denoting the marvel of an artist in flux.​

​Her next project is lead producing a new short film through her art collective Strange Times Studios called Kelly & Kai written and directed by Peter Vazquez.

She credits the sincerity of The Muppets as a key inspiration for her drive to break into children’s media - creatively delighted by the sincerity and imagination of puppets.

A trip to Aotearoa is hopefully on the cards as her quest for artistic expression melded with a quiet longing to know more about her past calls her to the south Pacific.

Mayo represents an entirely new wave of Pacific artists raised in the global Moana reckoning with fresh perspectives on connection and creation. Aiga is the centrepiece of Pacific life and Mayo has a lifetime of creating family through art and travel that mirrors ancestral norms.

“I’ve never known my biological Samoan family, hopefully one day I will but you never know,” says Mayo.

“Above all, I like to draw comics and I like to make theatre with my friends. I hate the idea that everything I make should be only about my identity markers. Sometimes it will be, but my identity will naturally infuse itself into everything I do simply because I’m the one making it.”

“I think being adopted and moving a lot as a child introduced me to the concept of found families, and to being open to everyone you meet. I feel as if things are less black and white for me in life because they were never black and white to begin with.”

You can follow Anna Mayo and her upcoming adventures here.