Born on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, Nikila is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist, designer, and performer inspired by an earth-based wisdom of Roots and Culture. Mother and community organizer, her work as an advocate for youth, indigenous, and environmental rights has played an influential role within shaping her foundation as a "Cultural Community Artist". Born into Pacific Islander, First Nations, and European lineages, to the raw street smarts of the Bay Area’s inner cities, it has been the cultural richness, as well as the systemic issues of her background, that have led Nikila to explore the arts as a foundation for educational reform and decolonization. In turn, she has helped develop youth arts curriculum and programs for a number of organizations.

As a painter and muralist, her art weaves underlying stories, traditions, and elements of the sacred indigenous with modern influences of the urban underground, and is guided by a maternal connection to the natural wisdom of the Earth; Thus birthing the art alias "MamaWisdom".