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Hawaii, Our Own
Hawaii, Our Own is part of a larger body of work that addresses the profound impact of tourism and colonialism that has prevailed in the self-proclaimed “Aloha State” since the Kingdom was violently overthrown and annexed to the United States in 1893.
As a long-time resident who spent a decade employed in the tourism industry, I believe that it is my kuleana (a Hawaiian word meaning my privilege, my honor and my responsibility) to understand and respect the culture of the place I call home. As my knowledge of Hawaiʻi becomes increasingly nuanced I have found myself alternately sad, frustrated and even angry, by how the state is presented to, and treated by, visitors — these feelings are the genesis of this body of work.
Hawaii, Our Own challenges long-held stereotypes and visual tropes that have been embedded into the pop culture image of Hawaiʻi for over a century. By placing my contemporary images in conversation with hand-written messages from vintage postcards, newspaper accounts and other ephemera I create a dialogue between past and present that exposes what ‘ownership’ of a place looks like and how colonial attitudes prevail in the tourism industry. Ultimately, a nuanced ancient culture, the place, and its people, continue to be commodified and reduced to caricatures.
Note: I intentionally exclude the diacritical mark from Hawaiʻi in the title of this project as it is a direct quote from a “Catch-Phrase on Hawaii” submitted to a contest sponsored by the Hawaii Promotion Committee and published in a local newspaper in 1906.
Note: Asterik indicates photographic print in exhibit at Downtown Art Center