Tapa (kapa in Hawai'i) is made from the inner bark of mulberry trees. I am inspired by the visual beauty and structural intelligence of tapa cloth. Working with tapa, I begin to understand the living tree as well as how the cloth was made. The tapa that I use was made in Tonga by the late Emalata Tu'a Kaufusi and other women, who pounded the bark until it was thin and then glued layers together to form a sturdy paper-like cloth. After deconstructing the cloth into its original thin layers, I use it as a substrate for resist dyeing, direct painting, and collage.