Artwork copyright Lehuauakea. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2023.

Artwork copyright Lehuauakea. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2021.

Artwork copyright Jamila Clarke. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2021.

Artwork copyright Jamila Clarke. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Everything Time Studio, 2021.

Huliau me ka Māuiki'iki'i (Revolution and the Solstice), 2021

Lehuauakea
(Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) | American, born 1996)

Location: Foothills Elementary, Buckley

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Huliau me ka Māuiki'iki'i (Revolution and the Solstice) is a painting by Hawaiian artist Lehuauakea (Kanaka Maoli / Native Hawaiian). It references the new eruption and volcanic activity that took place on the night of the 2020 winter solstice (December 21) at Kīlauea volcano on Hawai'i Island. After two years of silence, the volcano came back to life, reopened the summit caldera, and created a new lava lake over 450 feet deep.

For Lehuauakea, it is especially moving and important that this event occurred on the winter solstice, which is symbolic of a great cosmic change as the days get longer and the light returns. She notes, “In Native Hawaiian culture, we call something like this a hō'ailona, or a sign of something greater. When I awoke to the news of the eruption, I knew that after all that 2020 had brought us, there would be more shifting, change, and revolution to come. Only time will tell what these changes will bring, however I believe that it is all universally aligned — just as the movements of the stars have taught us.”

This artwork is part of a curated collection by Erin Dengerink in October 2021 at Foothills Elementary, in Buckley, Western Washington. The local art selection committee wanted artworks that are beautiful, intriguing, and spark imagination.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with White River School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Lehuauakea (Kanaka Maoli / Native Hawaiian) creates craft-based art that includes large-scale sculptures, hybrid installations, traditional canvas paintings, and Native Hawaiian craftwork. In their own words, "I aim to address subjects of mixed identity and cultural erasure, Indigenous resilience, and ecological decline through a contemporary Hawaiian lens." Lehua breathes new life into the labor-intensive traditions of making of 'ohe kāpala (carved bamboo stamps), kapa cloth, and natural pigments. Kapa is the traditional Native Hawaiian barkcloth, a non-woven textile made from the bark of specific trees.

Lehuauakea is a māhū mixed-Native Hawaiian artist from Pāpa'ikou on Moku O Keawe, the Big Island of Hawai'i. They earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting with a minor in Art + Ecology at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon.