Wednesday, August 28, 2019

#51. 'Mauna Kea / Powehi' 51" x 46" 2019.8 Tutuvi prints and Hawaiian cloth NFS


I wove this while TMT (a proposed new telescope on Mauna Kea) was being blocked by Hawaiians who declare the Mountain as sacred. 

What would Queen Liliuokalani do? Her islands were stolen in 1893. This is very much a part of the protest.





Added 2020:  

I left my home in Hawaii a long time ago. Because of the pandemic it is now a risk to travel back to visit family and friends. This new reality has me confronting the issue: is my “home” a specific geographical spot on earth? Do I identify with my past community if I am not currently living in that community? I was born and raised in Honolulu, do I still consider Hawaii my home?


I wove ‘Mauna Kea/Powehi’ during a time of political and spiritual turmoil. Some Hawaiians regard Mauna Kea as their original spiritual home. Some scientists want to build a telescope on the mount to find another 'Powehi', i.e. a black hole. The name ’Powehi’ comes from a Hawaiian origin chant meaning “an embellished dark source of unending creation”. Hawaiian protestors want to save their mountain they consider home. Scientist want to search for a black hole that all matter is pulled through; a portal perhaps leading to our ultimate home. 


One definition of ‘home’ is where you go to replenish yourself. ‘Home' is not only a place but a state of mind.


'Axis Mundi'










Saturday, July 27, 2019

#50. 'Powehi / Rainbow' 84" x 68" Made of hawaiian and western materials. Started 4/2019 - Finished 7/2019. Read links to find out more. 900.


'Kumulipo', a Hawaiian origin chant.

"The current of time when the earth turned hot around
The current of time when the firmament turned counter
The current of time when the sun stood beshadowed
To illuminate the moon
The time of the night of the Pleiades
The ocean-floor slime is what gave origin to earth
The origin of the dark was dark
The origin of the night was night
The deep darkness, the deep darkness
The darkness of the day, the darkness of the night
Night only indeed!..."

Copied from 'Chanting the Universe' by John Charlot, 1983.





Sunday, March 10, 2019

Monday, February 18, 2019