English to follow Ōlelo Hawai’i
Ian Kuali’i
ʻAʻohe hope e hoʻi aku ai
Nā Lā Hōʻikeʻike: Iulai 7 – ʻAukake 19, 2023
Hāmama nā puka: Pōʻalima, Iulai 7, 2023. Hola 5 o ke ahiahi a i ka hola 9 o ke ahiahi. (Hola: 5pm – 9pm.)
Moʻolelo Makakū
Moʻolelo Makakū: Nā Ian Kualiʻi i aʻo mai i nā hana ʻoʻoleʻa o nā makakū Hawaiʻi a me nā makakū Mescalero Apache ma o nā ʻoki pepa, nā hoʻonoho ʻāina, nā ʻano pena like ʻole. Hoʻohui nui ʻo Ian i ka makakū o kēia wā me ka makakū o nā kupuna. Hoʻohana ʻo ia i nā kiʻi, nā lau o nā poʻe ʻōiwi. ʻO ka pepa a me ka lapa nā pono hana a Ian i hoʻohana ai no kēia mau papahana kiʻi. Hoʻohui kūpono ʻo ia i ka nui o nā pepa a me nā lau kanaka a nā laina mio e haku i kēia mau papahana kiʻi. Wahi a Ian, “He hana hoʻomaluhia ka luku ʻana i mea e hoʻokumu ai i papahana kiʻi.”
He wahi hana ko kēia makakū ma Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hoʻolimalima ʻia ʻo ia no kāna mau papahana hoʻonoho ʻāina, ke kaʻapuni ʻana i nā hōʻike like ʻole, a me nā lāliʻi o ka ʻoki pepa ʻana. He ʻoihana kona no ʻelua kekeke e hōʻikeʻike ana i kāna mau papahana ma Wall\Therapy, UrbanArt Biennale 2017, Universal Pictures, Art Basel Miami, ka hale hōʻikeʻike aupuni o Mexican Art, National Hispanic Cultural Center, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Moniker Art Fair UK, ka hale hōʻikeʻike ʻo Millicent Rogers, ka hale hōʻikeʻike ʻo Heard. He mau nohona a me nā launa aloha ko Ian me nā ʻano hui like ʻole, e like me Red Bull House of Art, de Young Museum, Hawaiʻi State Foundation, Institute of American Indian Arts, School for Advanced Research, and the National Parks Arts Foundation. I ka makahiki 2021, ua loaʻa mai ʻo ia i kona Naika me ka Royal Order of the Crown of Hawaiʻi, he mea ia e holomua ai ʻo ia me ka hana o ke kaiāulu Hawaiʻi a me ka hana kuʻuna kupuna mai kona one hānau a me nā wahi ʻē aʻe.
IG: @iankualii
ʻŌlelo a ka makakū
He hōʻike ʻoʻoleʻa ʻo ʻAʻohe hope e hoʻi aku ai i hōʻiliʻili ʻia nā hana e Ian Kualiʻi ke Kanaka Maoli a me ka makakū Mescalero Apache, hōʻikeʻike ʻia nā ʻoki pepa, nā hoʻonoho ʻāina mīʻoi a nā wikiō e hōʻike ana i kāna kiʻina hana. Laulā loa nā kiʻi manaʻo a me hōʻailona i hoʻohana ʻia no nā lau kuʻuna kupuna. Hoʻohanohano ʻo Kualiʻi i nā akua, nā moʻokūʻauhau, nā moʻomeheu a me nā moʻolelo nui a nā poʻe Hawaiʻi, a nā moʻolelo i poina ʻia.
Ua maʻa aku ka inoa hōʻikeʻike mai kekahi line mai ka puke a Mary Kawena Pukuʻi ʻo Nānā I Ke Kumu Vol. I, he wahi hoʻomanaʻo kēia puke e hōʻokū nā hana i kōkua ʻole ai i nā kaiaulu ma na ʻano like ʻole. No nā kuʻuna kupuna, ʻo ka pūʻolo he ʻano ʻeke e hāpai ana i nā ʻano mea like ʻole no nā ʻano kumu like ʻole. Inā he wā i makaʻu loa ai nā mea ma loko o kēia mau pūʻolo, he mau pule ko nā kānaka e hana ai e hoʻokuʻu aku i nā mea o ka pūʻolo i ka moana, a ma hope iho ʻaʻohe hope e hoʻi aku ai. ʻO kēia hana o ka hoʻokuʻu he mea ia e hoʻohanohano ai i ka manaʻo o ka holomua ʻana o ka lāhui a ka hoʻokuʻu ʻana i ke kuanaʻike o ka mea kolonaio, i mea e kaʻana ai nā moʻolelo ʻo ia ʻiʻo, hoʻi aku i nā hana kuʻuna kupuna a ke kūkulu ʻana i ao hou no nā poʻe Hawaiʻi.
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Ian Kuali’i
And We Never Looked Back
Running dates: July 7 to August 19, 2023
Opening: Friday, July 7, 2023. 5pm to 9pm
Artist Biography
Artist Biography: Ian Kualiʻi is a self-taught interdisciplinary artist of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) and Mescalero Apache ancestry working in murals, large-scale hand-cut paper, and site-specific installation. Ian fluidly merges urban contemporary art with his ancestral iconography and history, drawing from occult symbolism, Indigenous politics, and Native Hawaiian cultural practices. From a single sheet of paper using only an x-acto blade as his tool, Ian’s portraits and compositions are carefully rendered in hand-cut paper, blending boldly geometric traditional patterns with delicate lenticular linework. Ian describes his creative approach as “a meditative process of destroying to create.”
The artist currently has a studio practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is sought after for his monumental installations, touring exhibitions, and innovative cut paper pieces. With a career spanning over two decades, his works have been featured by Wall\Therapy, UrbanArt Biennale 2017, Universal Pictures, Art Basel Miami, National Museum of Mexican Art, National Hispanic Cultural Center, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Moniker Art Fair UK, Millicent Rogers Museum, Heard Museum, and more. Ian has also received prominent residencies and fellowships with numerous institutions, including the Red Bull House of Art, de Young Museum, Hawaiʻi State Foundation, Institute of American Indian Arts, School for Advanced Research, and the National Parks Arts Foundation. In 2021, Ian Kualiʻi received his Knighthood with the Royal Order of the Crown of Hawaiʻi, furthering his dedication to representing his Native Hawaiian community and culture both at home in Hawaiʻi and abroad.
IG: @iankualii
Artist Statement
And We Never Looked Back is an interdisciplinary exhibition comprised of works by Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) and Mescalero Apache artist Ian Kualiʻi, featuring hand-cut paper, bold land art installations, and video documentation of the artist’s process. With a wide range of both figurative portrait imagery and symbolism through traditional pattern, Kualiʻi honors spiritual deities, personal genealogies, culturally and historically significant Native Hawaiian figures, and stories that are often misrepresented or left out entirely.
The exhibition’s title, adapted from a line from author Mary Kawena Pukui’s vital resource Nānā _I Ke Kumu Vol. I, serves as a reminder of the ways in which Kānaka Maoli release that which no longer serves the community, in whichever form it may be. In traditional cultural practice, pūʻolo (bundles, often of a family member’s bones or other important items) were held for various reasons. If a time came when these bundles became embodiments of fears, sorrow, or pain, Kānaka would uphold a protocol of prayer followed by the release of the pūʻolo into the sea — and they never looked back. This observance of release honors the idea of moving forward as a nation and releasing colonial misrepresentations in order to share true histories, return to cultural practices, and build new futures as contemporary Native Hawaiians.