NO KA‘AHUPAHAU

Size: 24” X 10”
Medium: Acrylic on Paper, Series of 8
2020

The Kaʻahupahau series is a collection of acrylic paintings on paper developed as part of an artistic inquiry supporting an architectural project in the Puʻuloa region of Oʻahu—ancestral waters long protected by Kaʻahupahau, the shark goddess and guardian of Pearl Harbor.

These works serve as visual studies exploring the symbolic and environmental presence of Kaʻahupahau within the cultural and ecological landscape of Puʻuloa. Through layered gestures, rhythmic patterning, and shifting tonal washes, the series evokes both the protective strength and sacred stillness of her domain. Each composition seeks to translate the spiritual dimensions of this mo‘olelo (oral tradition) into a visual language capable of informing architectural form and place-based design.

In this series, painting becomes a method of research and remembrance—connecting contemporary creative practice with the enduring responsibility to honor and protect the wahi pana (storied places) of Oʻahu.

THE PROCESS

No Kaʻahupahau is a mixed media series of visual studies created by Herman Piʻikea Clark as part of a collaborative design proposal for the Waiawa train station on Oʻahu. These works reflect Clark’s signature approach to Indigenous abstraction, where ancestral figures, natural elements, and cultural symbolism are distilled into rhythmic, contemporary forms. The series honors Kaʻahupahau, the shark goddess and protector of Puʻuloa (Pearl Harbor), whose presence remains vital in the cultural memory of the surrounding landscape. Rather than represent her directly, Clark engaged with the moʻolelo through abstraction—working with pattern, texture, and spatial rhythm to suggest her movement, guardianship, and enduring mana. The use of layered materials and interwoven motifs speaks to the complexity of place-based identity and the ways ancestral knowledge is embedded in land and water. These studies were conceived not only as aesthetic compositions, but as conceptual groundwork for large-scale, site-specific public art—works intended to restore cultural presence within modern infrastructure. No Kaʻahupahau continues Clark’s broader commitment to integrating Indigenous design principles into public space, inviting both recognition and reflection through abstraction.