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Mila Renault

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Tatiana Brennan (Brazil)

Tatiana, a Te Awamutu café owner, moved from Brazil to New Zealand as a teenager and now finds herself more Kiwi than Brazilian. She faces economic uncertainty working in hospitality during a global pandemic and misses her mother who is so far away.

Shared Life Lines

  • Ink pen and watercolour on 100% cotton paper

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Wilson family
(South Africa)

The Wilson family moved to New Zealand to raise their teenagers Tyler and Erin in a place they say is free of racism. Although the family is thriving, they face fear and anxiety waiting for their residency application to be approved.

Shared Life Lines

  • Ink pen and watercolour on 100% cotton paper

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Claudia Aalderink
(the Netherlands)

Claudia and her family feel at home in New Zealand and love the lifestyle. One day her husband, who works in the honey industry, came home with lots of used beehives to throw away. Claudia, an artist, spotted an opportunity and now transforms recycled beehives into colourful art.

Shared Life Lines

  • Ink pen and watercolour on 100% cotton paper

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Marcacaja-Gomes and Aalderink families

A story of two separate migrant families who have found each other — friends that have become family in a distant land.

Shared Life Lines

  • Ink pen and watercolour on 100% cotton paper

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Lindenberg Gomes and Vivian Maracajá (Brazil)

Whilst producing the sweetest gold honey, Lindenberg and Vivian carry fear and anxiety waiting for certainty around their pathway to permanent residence.

Shared Life Lines

  • Ink pen and watercolour on 100% cotton paper

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Maya Hasegawa (Brazil)

Maya, a scientist, moved to New Zealand four years ago with her partner Kimura, a PDH law student. They are struggling to get their professions recognised in New Zealand and are grappling with an uncertain future. Maya is Brazilian with Japanese ancestors and has faced racism while working in hospitality.

Shared Life Lines

  • Ink pen and watercolour on 100% cotton paper

Mila Renault

Shared Life Lines is a collection of sketches featuring migrant families from around the Waikato.

Mila balances the use of line movement and watercolour to portray emotion, capture scenes and tell stories.

“Everyone has a story and is a valuable member of society. We are all heroes inhabiting the same land.”

Mila is an artist and architectural designer who has been drawing and painting from a young age.

Originally from Brazil, her artwork ranges between pure watercolour paintings and drawings featuring “punches” of watercolour.

“I want my art to touch people and make them think about places and the human condition.”