NĀ ‘AUMAKUA
Artist Collection
Size: 11” x 17”
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Board, series
2020
A layered exploration of how unseen influences — history, values, and inherited knowledge — continue to shape perception and decision-making. Built through iterative layering, the work values attention and patience over speed or fixed outcomes.
References to natural forces — wind, water, cloud, and light — signal that guidance and intelligence are embedded within context and systems, not imposed from above.
Nā ʻAumakua functions as both artwork and practice example: demonstrating how clarity and alignment emerge by listening carefully to context rather than overriding it. A framework for thinking about leadership, responsibility, and continuity when navigating uncertainty and long-term impact.
Private Collection
THE PROCESS
This artwork was created in dialogue with the sacred Hawaiian ‘oli Nā ‘Aumākua, specifically the invocation: “E mālama ‘oukou iā mākou” — “Watch over us, care for us.” These words served as both anchor and atmosphere in the creation process, guiding each gesture with intention and reverence. Rather than illustrating the chant, this series offers a visual embodiment of its spirit. The panels were created through a process of layering, veiling, and uncovering—each step mirroring the rhythms of the chant itself. Using acrylic and mixed media, I explored the boundaries between form and formlessness, presence and invisibility—echoing the way our ‘aumākua move between worlds. The soft, pale hues suggest the liminal: dreams, clouds, winds, breath. The geometric forms—abstract yet genealogically charged—reflect pathways of connection between ancestors and descendants. Each panel stands as a visual prayer, a call and response across generations. In honoring the plea of “E mālama ‘oukou iā mākou,” this work becomes both an offering and a request: a way to remember, to be remembered, and to affirm that the care of our ancestors surrounds us still.
