http://www.kamehanaokala.com/studio daily 0.75 2024-03-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1709598246445-J7UA1S5X4Q76JV3E054E/image-asset.jpeg Studio - Kīwaʻa and Halulu Kiwa’a (Panel 1) Acrylic Polymer on Wood Panel 2022 Halulu (Panel 2) Acrylic Polymer on Wood Panel 2022 Kīwaʻa and Halulu are two large mythical birds often paired together and are referenced in many different mo’olelo. The manu Kīwaʻa, is said to be the pilot bird that leads the wa’a to the landing place. In the moʻolelo of ʻAukelenuiaʻīkū, Kīwaʻa saves Aukele by providing him a rainbow to descend from a cliff. The manu Halulu, was also said to be a large mythical bird. In some stories he is a man-eating bird. The word Halulu also refers to a loud roaring noise, like thunder. In the Kumulipo we see this brilliant poetry of the Kupuna, describing Halulu, as a flock of birds so large and loud that they block out the light of sun. Created for the ʻIke Kanaka Exhibition at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center Image courtesy of Maui Arts & Cultural Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1709598246445-J7UA1S5X4Q76JV3E054E/image-asset.jpeg Studio - Kīwaʻa and Halulu Kiwa’a (Panel 1) Acrylic Polymer on Wood Panel 2022 Halulu (Panel 2) Acrylic Polymer on Wood Panel 2022 Kīwaʻa and Halulu are two large mythical birds often paired together and are referenced in many different mo’olelo. The manu Kīwaʻa, is said to be the pilot bird that leads the wa’a to the landing place. In the moʻolelo of ʻAukelenuiaʻīkū, Kīwaʻa saves Aukele by providing him a rainbow to descend from a cliff. The manu Halulu, was also said to be a large mythical bird. In some stories he is a man-eating bird. The word Halulu also refers to a loud roaring noise, like thunder. In the Kumulipo we see this brilliant poetry of the Kupuna, describing Halulu, as a flock of birds so large and loud that they block out the light of sun. Created for the ʻIke Kanaka Exhibition at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center Image courtesy of Maui Arts & Cultural Center https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1472028419419-O6KSSZZ16FIA2VI9LG9H/DEATHofCOOK.jpg Studio - Death of Cook 8ʻX4ʻ Mixed media on wood panel Created for the 2014 "Contact" show, at the Honolulu Museum of Art. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1471333317462-R4IE2DPJMQDPCB2KEARV/IMG_4854.jpg Studio - Makahiki 1779 My 2nd depiction of the death of Captain James cook . Acrylic on Wood cut out. Painted for the "Makakolu" exhibit at the Markʻs Garage, Honolulu, 2015.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1471978852668-H78507WWA9W7AUDVGTY3/TURTLEBAY.jpg Studio - Akua A installation of 5, 8''X2.5'', painted panels, installed with the stone installation work of Tom Pohaku Stone, at the turtle bay resort. Each panel tells the story of one of our gods, Kanaloa, Kane, Pele, Haloa, and Ku. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1472027068230-Z24I8NHTHKZDAZ4MCL02/mamo1.5.jpg Studio 7ʻx2.5ʻ Mixed media on wood panel Created for the "Aloha My Name Is…" show at the Arts at Marks Garage, 2014. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1472028484716-VVZZXI7DTXK1P8Z0QI5R/MAMO2.5.jpg Studio 7ʻx2.5ʻ Mixed media on wood panel Created for the "Aloha My Name Is…" show at the Arts at Marks Garage, 2014. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1472027494075-4QQC6F4DOGQXQUOGAJCA/Root+Feeling.jpg Studio - Root Feeling SOLD Mixed Media on Canvas Created for the "Pillars of Kahiki" show at the Galerie Winkler in Papeete, Tahiti, April, 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1472027761692-CD56M231SCUEMHK01M2B/PAPUAA.jpg Studio - Pa Puaa A Kane "The Pig Pen of Kane" Mixed Media on Canvas Created for the "Pillars of Kahiki" show at the Galerie Winkler in Papeete, Tahiti, April, 2016.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1472028807659-AUIIL1XDWNS6P81ZN3W0/Godmakers.jpg Studio - The Godmakers Mixed Media on Canvas Created for the "Pillars of Kahiki" show at the Galerie Winkler in Papeete, Tahiti, April, 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1472029016206-8K53YVXJNE7PYOEE83RR/Kane3.jpg Studio - Kane 1 Mixed Media on Canvas Created for the "Pillars of Kahiki" show at the Galerie Winkler in Papeete, Tahiti, April, 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1472028896343-X6F6HO2N5PY2WDI6X70T/Kane1.jpg Studio - Kane 2 Mixed Media on Canvas Created for the "Pillars of Kahiki" show at the Galerie Winkler in Papeete, Tahiti, April, 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1472029652455-KADAUDGKR7IM4H4A7XHB/kane.jpg Studio - Kane 3 Mixed Media on Canvas Created for the "Pillars of Kahiki" show at the Galerie Winkler in Papeete, Tahiti, April, 2016. http://www.kamehanaokala.com/murals daily 0.75 2024-03-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1709585096551-F94KDHTLWVB9WU50HF6F/C2D9E0F3-3DCC-44C4-9DF7-EA7336A5C1AE.jpeg Mural Work I - Alahula Puʻuloa, he alahele na Kaʻahupāhau. Translated to: Everywhere in Pu‘uloa is the trail of Ka‘ahupāhau. This mural is dedicated to the keiki of Halawa View housing and is a simple reminder that we can learn from the lessons of the stories of old , to help us navigate towards a better future. This mural represents the famous shark god of Puʻuloa bay, Kaʻahupāhau and alludes to some of the other well known shark gods who visited these waters. These sharks were considered as ancestors and were taken care of by those who considered them family. In return Kaʻahupahau protected these people from other man-eating sharks. For myself this demonstrates Hawaiian and Polynesian peoples’ understanding of their reciprocal relationship with the ocean and natural world around us. The image suggest a parent or grandparent passing this knowledge to the next generation. The sharks and canoe are directed upwards towards the heavens to give a feeling of striving for the highest heights; that we all have the ability to achieve our dreams through the support of our family, community, and culture. Photo: Andrew Tran https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1709585096551-F94KDHTLWVB9WU50HF6F/C2D9E0F3-3DCC-44C4-9DF7-EA7336A5C1AE.jpeg Mural Work I - Alahula Puʻuloa, he alahele na Kaʻahupāhau. Translated to: Everywhere in Pu‘uloa is the trail of Ka‘ahupāhau. This mural is dedicated to the keiki of Halawa View housing and is a simple reminder that we can learn from the lessons of the stories of old , to help us navigate towards a better future. This mural represents the famous shark god of Puʻuloa bay, Kaʻahupāhau and alludes to some of the other well known shark gods who visited these waters. These sharks were considered as ancestors and were taken care of by those who considered them family. In return Kaʻahupahau protected these people from other man-eating sharks. For myself this demonstrates Hawaiian and Polynesian peoples’ understanding of their reciprocal relationship with the ocean and natural world around us. The image suggest a parent or grandparent passing this knowledge to the next generation. The sharks and canoe are directed upwards towards the heavens to give a feeling of striving for the highest heights; that we all have the ability to achieve our dreams through the support of our family, community, and culture. Photo: Andrew Tran https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1659995320124-XKL9HCC3F14IWG70NSCP/8DA61376-AC4E-4673-B78E-576EADBC69D3.jpeg Mural Work I - Return to the source The mural encourages us to follow the teachings of the original people who lived with this land, and to always look towards the natural environment to learn the lessons that can guide us through life. In this "modern-day", the o'opu have been presented with a new challenge, being forced to pass through the concrete to fulfill their life cycle. Some of them are able to survive this journey, yet it is our responsibility to make the changes necessary so that this land and all its unique Hawaiian lifeforms can thrive, not just survive. Photo: Sean M. Hower https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1642654481307-X5K8TCDCK4J94BR5KPRJ/0265BF3B-1D69-443E-A15D-0A2F0FE0CFA9.jpeg Mural Work I - Mālamalama Collaboration with Kamea Hadar 2021 Mālamalama , the guiding light of all of our ancestors. The dramtic lighting and strong use of black demonstrates our Kupunas' understanding of the balance of Pō and Ao, and that you cant have one with out the other. We hoped to share a positive message that could speak to all people and cultures, but thru a Hawaiian lense. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1642654549879-FMQHRFDCACKCKRAQZ2IA/image-asset.jpeg Mural Work I “Out of darkness, was born the light...” Mural completed this past February, for Pow!Wow!Hawaii2020 Contemporary reflections of traditional wisdom, inspired by the concept of the “bowl of light”, and the desire to “swim with the sharks and fly with the birds...” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1659994502489-AN44ESD1A1NZTSMH7NLF/B19FD4BA-FE4A-4B56-AFC2-AA6AA5684116.jpeg Mural Work I - Hoʻohala Manawa Sailing the boundless sea of time from Pō to Ao out of darkness to light guided by the spirit of your ancestors who soar on thru yourself and yofur descendants unborn The 3 figures represent the past,present, and future, against the backdrop of the Koʻolau mountains as seen from "Honolulu Harbor" prior to the urban sprawl. The the flying Manu is the spiritual essense that lives on thru oneself, the living flesh of your predecessors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1642654586255-IRG57VTKLU1GTL0E5I44/B7227DCF-2871-4D3E-BAFD-3151F6D8C8C2.jpeg Mural Work I - Kaulana Nā Wai ʻEhā This piece is my tribute to the four famous streams of west Maui and the importance of the Ahupuaʻa system in both traditional times and even more so, today. The idea is to give the viewer the "birds eye view" of the Wailuku valley and river, and the sea at Kaʻehu bay. I believe in these crucial times we must look from this view to realize and understand the effects of our actions and the importance of protecting what precious resources we still have before it is too late. . The textures of the mountain valley and the ocean hope to share how the original people of this land were very aware of the importance of the patterns in nature that surrounded us; from the visual patterns found on many life forms around us, to the cycles in the earth and sky. . The bold panel of pattern the runs through the middle of the composition represents each of these stream systems, Waikapū , Wailuku , Waiehu , and Waiheʻe, running from the watershed all the way down the ocean. The center image is a "Hue wai", a traditional Hawaiian water gourd, an item that was once an very important part of life when the resource of water was understood as the one of greatest riches in life. . The patterning on the gourd eludes to the pool of fresh water high in the Mauna Kahalawai (West Maui Mountains), known as "KiʻowaioKihawahine", and the traditional spiritual understanding of the role and importance of the Moʻo goddess Kihawahine . The bird motif is a contemporary pattern inspired by the only endemic seabird to Hawaii, the ʻAʻo (Newells Shearwater), who begin their life high on the slopes of Mauna Kahalawai, then eventually travel out throughout the Pacific Ocean. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1642654516976-AOO58PACN7E28F3QPDU9/F3E7C397-B471-40FD-9A33-476623085BFA.jpeg Mural Work I - "One Ocean, One People" Completed mural for @PowwowSanJose. A celebration of Oceanic peoples and our great legacy of voyaging around the earth. Inspired by the idea that the ocean is something that unites us, not seperate us. "There are no more suitable people on earth to be guardians of the worldʻs largest ocean than those for whom it has been home for generations"- Epeli Hauʻofa The composition of patterns and manaʻo were shared with me thru our teacher, Suluʻape Keone Nunes, and reference different aspects of Hawaiian spirituallity in regards to navigation and voyaging. The "above the clouds" scene represents the view for the migratory sea birds and the idea that as human beings we must strive for the zenith in every choice and action. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1471980294668-JPRA696BLPB23T0KIQ4R/IMG_6377.JPG Mural Work I Aerosol on invasive Albezia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1471331127495-ZDV537E3ALYM90E4LZBS/IMG_3422.JPG Mural Work I - Pow!Wow! 2015 Painted with Mung Monster for the 2015 Pow!Wow! mural festival in Kaka'ako, O'ahu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1471980654099-1MJ93PPBMBUIZ6O9JLZI/IMG_6163.JPG Mural Work I Painted at an abandoned 5 star resort on an island in french Polynesia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1471331333970-MFR9E04UIZ52B3ABBFD9/Lonoikamakahiki+copy.jpg Mural Work I - Lonoikamakahiki Painted for the Pow!Wow! 2014 mural festival https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1471331365372-TJ4U0VE1G2W4KLH06XQV/PowWow16.JPG Mural Work I - Kapihe's Prophecy Mural Painted for Pow!Wow! 2016 in Kakaʻako Oʻahu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1471333055548-ZP1P256G0HOUNYFU6066/Kapuaiwa.JPG Mural Work I - Kapuaiwa Portrait of King Kamehameha V   Aerosol and House paint on Abandoned water tank, undisclosed location, 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1471331003653-QLKJA7JDRBGOWMG1IU8D/Ali%CA%BBi_ka_%CA%BB%C4%81ina.jpg Mural Work I - Mookuauhau Painted with Kamali'ikupono Hanohano at the Windward Community College on Oahu, 2010 http://www.kamehanaokala.com/recent-projects daily 0.75 2022-01-19 http://www.kamehanaokala.com/carving daily 0.75 2022-08-09 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/t/62f1ee5d5905e050a8c9d208/1659997033363/ Carving https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/62f18960ca0cf83cb6b82754/62f18b69bb7d467ca0c089a2/1659997033363/ Carving https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1659997896477-M1H1ATGGXYGRHNL0331Z/B89C0F80-EE1F-45B3-80AD-E7B37FFE1D4C.jpeg Carving Deer Antler, ʻEa Inlay and Wax nylon 2021 This is my contemporary interpretation of a traditional example of “Kiʻi Punohu”, a carved sea urchin spine found on Kaho’olawe. This piece is dedicated to the legacy of a Kupuna who dedicated his life to the Aloha ʻĀina movement and specifically for his efforts fighting for Kohe Mālamalama ʻO Kanaloa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1659997965395-C27OES86RZY08CS0WMIS/E6FC9DC0-9369-4267-8D0C-AB8D33BE0C0B.jpeg Carving - Hali’imaile Contemporary Niho Opu’u form Palaoa and Waxed nylon 2021 This piece was created to honor the legacy of a Kupuna as a Hawaiian cultural practitioner, Contemporary artist, and educator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1660003254818-4N470A4VVB987OSCDUL6/59F66F68-D68C-4F24-8B63-AC6D4F6678D5.jpeg Carving - Nā Kai ʻEwalu “Niho ʻōpaka” Palaoa 2020 Here is a contemporary Niho form inspired by similar carving techniques as seen in different aspects of traditional Hawaiian carving. This piece is dedicated to the legacy of our Kumu, who has followed the path of the mōlī around the pacific and who returned to Hawai’i to revive the nearly lost traditions of our ancestors. http://www.kamehanaokala.com/installations daily 1.0 2024-03-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1707181179257-7ZEJSU23SB5E5LW646W0/B182188E-B09D-46B1-BECB-C8C1FC288C4F.jpeg Installations - ʻ Ōpua maka ʻupena Acrylic Polymer 2024 For the Sense of Place / Place of Sense, exhibition at the Schaeffer Gallery, Maui Arts & Cultural Center This net pattern is my interpretation of ʻōpua maka ʻupena, cirro-cumulus clouds, based on my observations of this type of cloud formation on Molokaʻi this past year. The clouds play a significant role in the water cycle in the islands. In the days of old these observations in the sky, were signs of change in the weather ahead, among other possible spiritual interpretations. This mural serves to be sign of whats to come and a reflection of the drastic and fast changing Hawaiʻi that I have observed within my own lifetime. Image courtesy of Maui Arts & Cultural Center, photograph by J. Anthony Martinez https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1707181179257-7ZEJSU23SB5E5LW646W0/B182188E-B09D-46B1-BECB-C8C1FC288C4F.jpeg Installations - ʻ Ōpua maka ʻupena Acrylic Polymer 2024 For the Sense of Place / Place of Sense, exhibition at the Schaeffer Gallery, Maui Arts & Cultural Center This net pattern is my interpretation of ʻōpua maka ʻupena, cirro-cumulus clouds, based on my observations of this type of cloud formation on Molokaʻi this past year. The clouds play a significant role in the water cycle in the islands. In the days of old these observations in the sky, were signs of change in the weather ahead, among other possible spiritual interpretations. This mural serves to be sign of whats to come and a reflection of the drastic and fast changing Hawaiʻi that I have observed within my own lifetime. Image courtesy of Maui Arts & Cultural Center, photograph by J. Anthony Martinez https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1660003526999-HIOZT5127XI7U22UGP2B/126BE2DF-6B85-4B0D-9C90-8EED92EE8AF5.jpeg Installations - Laukanaka Aerosol and Latex 2019 Laukanaka is a site-specific installation and new commission, which welcomes visitors into the HUB. Cory Kamehanaokalā Holt Taum’s patterns reflect the bold, powerful, complexities of Pacific design, which mimic elements found in the natural world. As a prolific muralist and a student of traditional Hawaiian tattoo or kākau, he is interested in the power of pattern as tool for visual communication and a language understood by all living things – humans, animals and plants. Taum's mural is inspired by the words of his mentor and fellow HB19 artist, ‘Īmaikalani Kalāhele. His heavy use of black references Kalāhele's urge for us to look back and return to the source that is Pō, night or darkness, to understand how to best move forward for the health of both the land and people native to this land. The pair of dancing bird forms represent the Manu o Kū, commonly known as “fairy terns,” one of the few remaining native bird species to live and thrive in urban Honolulu. These birds remind Taum of his many ancestors who lived from Waikiki to Honolulu since the 1800s and the great changes that have occurred in his Kulāiwi (both the birthplace and resting place of his ancestors’ bones) in such a short period since their lifetimes. The asymmetric composition is intended to illustrate this feeling of dramatic movement and change. Geometric motifs represent different native flora such as Kalo (taro), a staple of the Native Hawaiian-diet and an older-sibling to the first man, according to the Kumulipo, the cosmogonic genealogical creation chant. Prior to urbanization and widespread water diversion, Kalo was once widely cultivated from Honolulu to Waikīkī, fed by natural water systems that once flowed from mauka to makai, from the mountains to the sea. Laukanaka is a play on the Hawaiian words lau meaning the leaves of a plant or multiple/many, and kanaka referring to people. The title refers both to Oʻahu’s overpopulation as well as the growing and strengthening of the lāhui (the Hawaiian nation). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1660004232427-2VZ6JT6RZT76X14CZKUZ/DKB_LDALITSATOE+Install_CCS_2019_5+2.jpg Installations - Beneath Concrete Aerosol and CMU brick 2019 Cory Kamehanaokalā Taum’s commissioned work, Beneath Concrete (2019), consists of hundreds of spray-painted concrete blocks assembled into an exhibition foundation atop the pre-existing concrete surface of the museum gallery floor. This tiled floor ornamentation draws upon the artist’s skills honed, and knowledge of kākau (tattooing) passed on to him, under the tutelage of expert tattooist Suluʻape Keone Nunes. Taum incorporated Polynesian genealogical approaches to tattooing—in which patterns are inscribed on bodies as marks of resilience, descent, and collectivity—into the material of the commission. Additionally, the artist’s surface treatment and the pattern and process by which he arranged the blocks is also a direct response to Piliāmoʻo and Vea’s contributions to the exhibition and builds from the ground up. Visitors passing through the space must come into physical contact with the material of the commission in order to experience the other works in the exhibition. In this sense, the work helps to evoke the feel, smell, sound, and look of concrete realities. In keeping with this situated and sensorial experience, each concrete block was spray-painted on the grounds of the Hessel Museum of Art and placed within the gallery through a process of shared and non-remunerated labor. Taum worked alongside a group assembled from current first and second-year students, faculty, and staff at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (CCS Bard) who individually responded to a call for collaboration. -Drew Kahuaina Broderick https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1660004752911-2O54E6UATY2KKKUR49Z2/6A2F0A73-BBFB-403D-93D2-529314469FF6.jpeg Installations - Lau Ama’uma’u Aerosol on plywood 2022 Lau Ama’uma’u is my tribute to the Ama’uma’u fern that would be used as the final trimming on the traditional thatched Hawaiian Hale. After thatching the hale with Pili grass, dry Ama’u fern leaves would be collected from the mountains for the final trimming. The leaves would be split in half and joined together before being secured to the ridge of the Hale. I have been taught that our ancestors chose this plant form because it serves as a spiritual “Pale” or shield over the Hale. For myself this fern is a physical body form of our Akua, Kamapua’a, whose story inspired my own path in discovering how to channel my creative forces to create beauty out of decay. http://www.kamehanaokala.com/contact daily 0.75 2023-05-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1472070830987-YJ8RGF0GD21KL9Z3WUXI/image-asset.jpeg Contact http://www.kamehanaokala.com/new-page daily 0.75 2024-03-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57b2b7e046c3c465f613d56d/1472067286816-BGUOJEDE034H1HMS4I26/about.jpg About