Hafoka Happs: July 2012

My show and my paper are finally done. Strange feeling, not to be staying up at night stressing about some detail that I can't get to until tomorrow. After changing my mind about what I wanted to do many many times and avoiding the topic I most wanted to talk about for a long time--culture, I was finally able to find a focus I could work with. Thank you everyone who helped me get this done - mom and dad and Noke especially.

my artist statement:

Defining my own cultural identity is complicated by my alternating environment. My cultural diversity compels me to scrutinize my cultural surroundings and how they affect my identity. I am satisfied that my identity will always be unresolved.

‘Aha’aina is the term that preceded the word Luau as the definition of a Hawaiian feast. The diverse and variegated aspect of the Luau reflects my own diverse and variegated self/cultural identity. My cultural identity connects me to this setting and its origins and here I use it as a metaphor for the cultural diversity I have inherited and must navigate. Literally meaning “gathering to eat”, ‘Aha’aina is the place where a diverse narrative of people, history and custom combine to form an environment where identity can be examined.

The show consisted of 24 oil paintings on 12"x12" panels, 24 ceramic sculptures of clamshell style styrofoam plates, and an 18' table.