"Sometimes it's hard to know where to start with my work, as ideas and inspiration flow through this body of mine and trigger different reactions," she said. "I actually never knew I had so many words in me."

Her art is a mixture of poetry, body adornment, dance and costuming (and even jewelry), as she probes her roots (she's Maori New Zealand-born, of Samoan and pakeha or white heritage) to share her knowledge of and love for things Pacific.

"I have found that I have been a bridge to help the different cultures understand themselves and I think this is because I have these many sides to me, in me. I can see that they can live and work together in a complementary existence, as long as the respect is there."

"Growing up mixed blood was an issue to other people but not to me or my mother," she said. "My pakeha mother brought me up to be proud of being Samoan, and encouraged me to be all I could be. She let my grandmother 'steal' me and I would be gone for months sometimes; but I loved her at all different stages of my life."

She underwent "cultural reawakening" when she encountered the Pacific Sisters, a performance act she met through Polynesian fashion shows, later becoming its artistic director-producer.

She has never been at a loss for inspiration. "Something will trigger a vision; sometimes it's words, sometimes I draw and then it grows from there," she said. Further, culture and creativity have served as "a wonderful healing aid to understand the different aspects of my makeup."

For Raymond, a UH residency (she is a Visiting Distinguished Artist for 2005) "has fulfilled a lifetime dream and to be able to share my work with the people is so very special," she said.

She has found communion with the Hawaiian community here. "I have met only a few Hawaiians, but we are very aware of the struggle of the Hawaiians and their colonized history. Even though we are separated by so much water, our histories have been a part of each other's journey to survive in the 21st century."

She wants her visit here to be a learning opportunity for all.

One of the featured pieces in her program, "Full Tusk Maiden," was created a while back but remains relevant. It's an homage to the great women of the Pacific, she said. Complete with body art and costumes, "she is part of me and I of her," said Raymond.

She said audiences often find the work very threatening or even exotic. "I find her very 'glamorous,' not an everyday average being. I dress her in signs of her status, as a person to be respected and honored, with pig tusks, shark's teeth, tapa cloth, seeds and shells — all the treasures of the Pacific. These materials have lost a lot of their value in today's world of diamonds and pearls.

"The best thing about my work is that it feeds into my life, so that I can work with my passion, to create; there are so many bonuses — meeting so many creative people makes for good storytelling."