Aloha Kakou, Chris here (with the help of my beautiful girlfriend)
AKA KUMU ‘ILI’ILI. Yup, tonight at Kumu Pages art exhibit, Ke'ili got granted the title of a Kapa Kumu!!! For those that do not know what kapa is, in a nutshell it is *keili here: kapa is traditional hawaiian fabric made of the wauke (mulberry tree)*
I am so proud of Keʻili for putting in the many hours of apprenticeship under her Kumu, and even more excited to see the legacy she builds throughout time in her beautiful creations. What a wonderful Kuleana!
Keʻili and I just got home from a memorable stay in Maui. I had originally gone to paint a mural on the exterior of Four Seasons at Wailea (successful) but ended up getting so sick on the first day… I am fortunate to have friends, as Gregg Kaplan came to help paint and Keʻili came to take care of me ʻtill it was pau. (Also, my loving sister for calling in room service medicine when I was being stubborn). As I am writing this now, I am still super bussup, but we left a heartfelt piece behind on one of the most high end resorts in Hawai’i.
The mural (untitled) is about the feelings that emanate from the island. The orb embodies na wai eha “the four streams” waikapu, wailuku, waiehu and waiheʻe. Pattern work of leaping malolo and plankton signify an abundant joyful sea. The more aperiodic pattern work represents a navigation plan, and how important it is to have some sort of grace in technical matters. The island orb is either sinking into to much planning, or arising out of turbulence - depending on your viewpoint! The red orange fire emanating from the periphery honors the long road home, which can mean many things, but in this case it is referring to kealaikahiki, the sea channel facing Tahiti from the shoreline. One night during my visit when I was feeling very feverish, I went down the the ocean to get some fresh air. Right above the horizon was these stars I have cherished for a long time. I call it Hahaluanui for they are like a great manta ray bursting out of the horizon in the east, landing in the west whilst keeping its tail right on the north star. Such a fun study on the sea. I decided to incorporate it into the mural for it marked the channels going out from that beach in Wailea - Auau “to bathe” the stretch of sea between Maui and Lanai and Kalohi “The slowness” the stretch between Lanai and Molokai
-Chris
