Art Wave @ Greenroom Gallery Diamond Head

I’m excited to team up with the fine folks at Greenroom Gallery Diamond Head for their January Art Wave pop-up in a couple of weeks! I’ve put together a collection of matted prints, framed originals, and a couple of new paintings that will be on display (and for sale).

The event is one night only, and free to attend —also kid and pet friendly!
Date: January 21st, 2023
Time: 6PM - 9PM
Location: Greenroom Gallery & Knots Coffee Roasters (Inside of Queen Kapiolani Hotel)
150 Kapahulu Ave Honolulu, HI 96815

Hope to see you there!

"Small Victories" Group Show @ Thinkspace

My new piece “Welcome Back” is on display at the Lancaster Museum of Art and History in California, with Thinkspace for their group show “Small Victories,” focusing on suicide prevention and mental health. The show is up from September 12 through December 27.

“Welcome Back” 12x12” Acrylic, colored pencil on wood panel

'Ride the Sunrise' WOW x WOW Group Show

I’m excited to have a new piece featured in WOW x WOW Gallery’s  Ride the Sunrise group exhibition. The show is online from August 7-28, 2020. For purchase inquires please visit the WOW x WOW website here.

“Next Left” Acrylic, colored pencil on wood panel.

This illustration is inspired by a road I routinely traveled this summer for a job in the next town over. It’s one road in, and one road out. After driving through dense forest along both sides of a straight road for several miles, you’re suddenly met with a sharp left turn that puts you at the base of the majestic Ko’olau mountains. A little blue house is the first thing that welcomes you into the sleepy town of Waimānalo.

"Mother Worth"

I was invited to participate in “Mother Earth: We Are All One,” a group show curated by Thinkspace. On view in Culver City, CA from June 27-July 18. Over 50 artists were tasked with creating a new piece that reflects the current state of the world.

As an illustrator, I am a storyteller and documentarian. I wanted to create an illustration that serves as a time capsule of these tumultuous times. I especially wanted to depict the hope and optimism I see emerging from this tidal wave of change, despite the darkness that could so easily overwhelm us.

“Home Front”

by Norman Rockwell

A World War II housewife ready to do battle against the Axis powers with the weapons available to those who fought on the home front.

My illustration was heavily inspired by Norman Rockwell’s “Home Front” illustration, a cover for Post Magazine in 1943, which depicts “a World War II housewife ready to do battle against the Axis powers with the weapons available to those who fought on the home front. “ (Finch, Norman Rockwell 332 Magazine Covers, pg 24). The composition is perfect. Rockwell’s “Miss Liberty,”  literally wears multiple hats while juggling an arsenal of cleaning products, mechanical equipment, and gardening tools. Her look of determination is powerful as she marches forward.

“Mother Worth”
By Kate Wadsworth

A Black American Mother ready to do battle against the United States Government with the weapons available to those who fight against systemic racism, discrimination and prejudice.

I wanted to portray a modern Black American woman, specifically a mother. She marches for the Nth time for a better future for herself and her child. Stacked behind her is the weight of hundreds of years of systemic racism, discrimination, and prejudices she faces every day, both directly and indirectly. Rockwell’s blurb about the WWII house wife felt like a mad-lib I could easily switch out with more pertinent words: “a Black American Mother ready to do battle against the United States Government with the weapons available to those who fight against systemic racism, discrimination and prejudice. “

There's a lot to unpack… and this is the ultra condensed version, but here we go:

Protest + Covid-19 gear:
Armed with a face mask, gloves, water, hand sanitizer, a protest sign, and a megaphone, the woman marches forward demanding a better future for herself and child. In a time where being Black in America means fearing for your life when a police cruiser starts following you or when you go into labor, the Covid-19 virus swept through the country and shined a spotlight on these disparities. In the wake of a virus that kills Black Americans at three times the rate of white Americans, the Black mother must risk her present health to fight for her child's future while the stars and stripes on her face mask attempt to silence her.

White Picket Fence:
She carries a dismantled white picket fence on her back that represents the unattainable and flawed idea of the “American Dream.”

Graduation Cap:
She proudly wears a graduation cap. This cap is both an achievement and another thing in her way as she is saddled with student loans while jobs are statistically harder to get and pay a Black woman less than her white counterparts.

Baby Onesie:
Attached to the fence is a laundry line where we see a baby onesie emblazoned with a “Bright Future” graphic. It hangs in front of a striped wall meant to reflect prison bars symbolizing the school-to-prison pipeline, which the ACLU describes as “a disturbing national trend wherein children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Many of these children have learning disabilities or histories of poverty, abuse, or neglect, and would benefit from additional educational and counseling services. Instead, they are isolated, punished, and pushed out.”

Birth Certificiate:
Also clipped to the laundry line is a birth certificate, which represents the upsetting reality that many people of color invariably have to prove “where they’re really from,” what their “real name” is, or what ethnicity they are. America's first Black President was famously not immune to this callous othering by fellow citizens. It is also a reference to how people of color are pressured to “whiten” their given names on resumes to get more call-backs.

Framed Pictures:
The framed photos behind the woman represent her mother, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, friends, all women who came before her, marching the same march, holding the same signs, demanding the same respect and equality.

Binoculars:
There is a pair of white hands grasping binoculars from the branch of the tree, pointed straight at the woman. This represents Black surveillance, from being followed for no reason in a store, all the way up to the FBI monitoring civil rights and Black liberation leaders.

Dollar + Late Bills:
The ripped dollar represents the gender pay gap in America and occupational segregation. In 2020, women make only $0.81 for every dollar a man makes. Women, especially Black and Latina women, are more likely to work in low-wage jobs.

Bed:
The bed behind the woman honors Breonna Taylor, a young Black EMT who was shot to death by police in her own home while she slept.

Car:
The car honors Philando Castile, a young Black man who was fatally shot during a traffic stop, with his partner and child in the car. He was pulled over for a broken tail light.

Running Shoes:
The running shoes honor Ahmaud Arbery, a young Black man who was shot and killed by two white men while he was out for a run.

Olive Tree & Peace Lily:
I feel optimistic and encouraged by the momentum created by the marches, protests, and demonstrations that are being held across the world. The peace lily and olive tree represent peace and hope for a better future. As the woman marches forward into the unknown, she leaves behind little seeds of hope on the road to revolution that began with her ancestors and will only end with equality and justice.

"Mother Earth: We Are All One"

I’ve been invited to participate in Thinkspace Gallery’s “Mother Earth: We Are All One” group show, on view June 27 - July 18, taking place at:

Thinkspace Projects
6009 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, California 90232
www.thinkspaceprojects.com

Words from Thinkspace:
"Mother Earth: We Are All One” will bring together 50+ artists,  all of whom have been asked to work within the same space confines of 12×12 inches and to take into consideration the general state of our Mother Earth and how much we have scarred her for our own gain and how many species of animals have gone extinct due to our constant advancement and taking over of lands near and far. We’ve asked them all to also consider how the current pandemic has so clearly illustrated that we are all in this together, and when we work together as one, anything is possible. To single out any one person due to their race, religion or sexual orientation is an archaic way of thinking that needs to be abolished. Fundamentalist extremism has been rearing its ugly head all around the world over the last couple years, and it needs to be stopped.

A portion of the proceeds from this special exhibition will be donated to our longtime partners at Born Free USA to help them in their goals of ensuring that all wild animals, whether living in captivity or in the wild, are treated with compassion and respect and are able to live their lives according to their needs.

A portion of the proceeds will also be donated to the NAACP in the name of Ahmaud Arbery.

Check my next blog post to see the piece I created for the show, “Mother Worth.”

Boooooooom x Thinkspace: ‘Seeing Red’ Exhibition

A couple months ago I was invited to create a piece for “Seeing Red,” a show curated by Jeff Hamada of Booooooom presented at Thinkspace. It is an honor to even be included in the same roster as some of these legends (?!!?) Big thank you to Jeff and Andrew!

From Thinkspace:

For more than a decade Booooooom has championed visual artists from all over the world, presenting a unique mix of high and low brow work from both emerging and established artists. Curated by Jeff Hamada, “Seeing Red” presents all new works from a wide array of artists who’ve been featured on Booooooom over the past ten years, and with the spirit of the site in mind, there are legendary names and relatively unknown ones showing alongside each other. Each artist was given the same challenge, to work within a 12×12 inch (30×30 cm) frame and to incorporate the color red into their work. The simple visual theme serves as a common thread connecting all the works—a pathway for the viewer to travel into and out of each piece—and provides a reference point to help understand the way this diverse group sees the world around them.

On View: March 30, 2019 – April 20, 2019

Featuring works from:
Aaron De La Cruz, Alessandra Maria, Alex Roulette, Alice Fennessy, Alina-Ondine, Andrea Wan, Andrew Schoultz, Andrew Tavukciyan, Andy Busc, Angela Gram, ASKEW, Audrey Kawasaki, Bagger 43, Ben Bauchau, Bráulio Amado, Brecht Vandenbroucke, Brendan Monroe, Caratoes, Céline Ducrot, Cinta Vidal, Daniela Carvalho, Drew Young, Emily Lovejoy, Eric Louie, Erik Jones, Erik Mark Sandberg, ERMSY, Esao Andrews, Evah Fan, Evan M. Cohen, Fafi, Fumii Nakamura, Hanna Lee Joshi, Hellen Jo, Herikita, Hola Lou, Hope Gangloff, Huntz Liu, Ilya Milstein, James Acrow, James Chia Han Lee, Jasper Wong, Jean Jullien, Jean Nagai, Jen Mann, Jet Martinez, Jon Boam, Joshua Barrigada, Julia Petrova, Julian Glander, Kamea Hadar, Kami + Sasu (Hitotzuki), Kate Wadsworth, Katie So, Kayla Mahaffey, Kellie Orr, Kenichi Hoshine, Kevin Lyons, Kim Leutwyler, Klone, Kristina Collantes, Laura Bifano, Lauren YS, Linsey Levendall, Low Bros, Lucie Salgado, Luke Ramsey, Madsteez, Mandy Tsung, Marco, Mazzoni, Mark Sarmel, Marsi van de Heuvel, Martine Johanna, Mary Henderson, Mina Hamada, Nate Burbeck, Neva Hosking, Nomi Chi, Nosego, Ping Zhu, PREF, Rob Sato, Sam Rodriguez, Sam Vanallemeersch, Simon Landrein, Smithe, Tatiana Suarez, Tierney Milne, Tiffany Bozic, Tran Nguyen, Tyler Keeton Robbins, Wakana Yamazaki, WAONE, Will Gaynor, Will Laren, YESNIK

“Lost and Found” 12x12” acrylic, colored pencil on wood panel

My piece is called “Lost and Found,” inspired by the surfers and lifeguards on the North Shore (Oahu, HI). I had been working on another surf-heavy project at the same time, and made a few research trips to take reference photos. The official red and yellow lifeguard colors lent themselves perfectly for this project, as I was drawing a blank for a few weeks on what to paint for this show… (the pressure!) not to mention I’m still obsessed with fluorescent red and the “High Surf” signs scattered about the the beaches. (Why? I’d tell you if I knew!) The painting isn’t necessarily sequential, but I wanted to illustrate enough little bits for the viewer to piece together their own narrative.

If you’re in the LA area, I hope you can make it to the show!

Spoke-Art Miyazaki Pop Up

I was invited to create a Hayao Miyazaki inspired illustration for the Spoke-Art x Pow Wow Hawaii pop up show at Ala Moana, #MyNeighborHayao. I chose to represent the movie Ponyo.

My favorite scene from the movie is when Ponyo turns Sōsuke’s toy boat into a life-size vessel they can navigate across their flooded town. Its made clear throughout the film that Ponyo loves ham, so to give my piece a little local flair, I made Ponyo eating a spam musubi :)

You can purchase the original here, or email events@spoke-art.com for more information. 

"28 Summers" Solo Show at Kailua Gallery

A huge thank you to all of those who attended the opening reception of my solo show "28 Summers" at Kailua Gallery! Special thank you to Ruth Sorensen who made the entire show possible, and special guest Kim of Kyote Designs for displaying her beautiful jewelry.

"28 Summers" is a series of illustrations inspired by a recent move back to my hometown, after spending many years across the country. The pieces vary a bit in subject matter, but are tied together by nostalgic interpretations of my childhood/adolescence growing up in Hawaii. With warm saturated colors, I wanted to depict joyful reflections of endless summer days covered in sun, sweat and outside antics.

I have an assortment of hand embellished, very limited edition prints for sale exclusively at Kailua Gallery. Contact Ruth for availability and purchase info. I also painted a 20x10ft temporary mural on one side of the gallery. Check it out by September 17th, before it gets painted over!