MARI GARDNER
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Nana I Ke Kumu (Look to the Source)
Hui Noeau Visual Arts Center, Makawao, Hawaii

Aloha Áina (love of the land) and the history and legends of place are an integral part of Hawaiian culture. Today, due to the influx of foreigners, much of the land has been developed and the legends forgotten. The culture of the islands is transforming. Native Hawaiians, once powerful, have been unfairly subjugated and silenced throughout the past two centuries. Sadly, they occupy the lowest station on the economic scale and are advertised as a tourist attraction by the visitor industry.

I spent two years in Hawaii, and though merely a visitor, I didn't live there to take from the land, nor the culture. I went there to explore the forces that drew me to the islands in the first place and to learn from those to whom the sacred lands truly belong. Through much research, countless stories from locals and experiences that I, as a haole (white person/foreigner), was blessed to have had, I learned.  I then internalized my encounter and I responded visually. It was my hope to convey something of the beauty and tragedy I felt in the environment.

I have always been deeply moved by the word Aloha, which means, quite literally, the breath of life. Let us not take this for granted.

Looking Beyond

Mixed media installation. Included audio (Hawaiian chanting)
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  • Home
  • About
    • About Mari
    • Contact
  • Community- Based Art
    • International >
      • Eswatini (Southern Africa) >
        • Tibi Tendlu
        • Unheard Voices
        • Orphanage
      • Botswana >
        • Viewfinder Project
      • Brazil
    • Community Based Public Art
    • Sculpture
    • Room Transformations
    • Installations >
      • African Refugee Youth: A Self Portrait
      • Unheard Voices (Timbutini)
    • Video >
      • Documentary
      • Public Service Announcements
  • Public Art
    • Clay Center for Art and Science, Charleston, West Virginia
    • Anne's Flats, Olympia, Washington
    • American Embassy, Eswatini, Southern Africa
    • American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland >
      • Aurora Borealis
      • Sunset and Daybreak Wing
      • Day to Fade
    • Baltimore Convention Center Hilton Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland
    • Glazer Children's Museum, Tampa, Florida
    • OHL Orthodontists, Dover, Delaware
  • Fine Art
    • Sculpture >
      • Redemptive Meditation
      • Portrait of a City Series
      • Nana I Ke Kumu Series
      • On Man and Nature Series
      • African Refugee Youth: A Self Portrait
    • Photography >
      • Dignified Faces
      • Tibi Tendlu
      • Unbreakable
    • Installation >
      • Samsara
      • Nana I Ke Kumu (Look to the Source)
      • Hut
      • Teen Dreams
    • Decorative Works
  • Video
    • Documentary
    • Small Jobs