Nā leo ʻāina / Land voices

Date
2005-12
Authors
Laymon, Julie W.
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Abstract
The exhibition "Na Leo Aina / Land Voices' presented from October 9-14, 2005, in the Commons Gallery of the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, examines differing cultural, philosophical, and visual perspectives of land. I investigate my genealogical connections and contradictory cultural beliefs. Documenting ways that the land of Hawai'i has changed, I depict its raw power, cultural ruins, and spatial paradoxes. The paintings in this exhibition are a result of my desire to combine abstract philosophies of space with the concrete realities of place. They are comprised of reconstructed memories and actual histories. Translating these ideas into a coherent visual language, I use three primary metaphors: the pohaku, a building block of many ancient cultural sites; map fragments; and archaeological diagrams. Using techniques of fragmentation and layering, the power and complexities of my relationship with my homeland are conveyed. Many historians who write about contemporary cultural issues comment on our emotional distance from the land that has developed as a result of our physical separation from current methods of food production and transportation. Miwon Kwon says that 'being lost, disoriented, alienated, feeling out of place and consequently unable to make coherent meaning of our relation to our physical surroundings - is the cultural symptom of late capitalism's political and social reality,"' Our desire for the 'lure of the local,'2 or what Lucy Uppard defines as the 'intersection of nature, culture, history, and ideology"3 comes about precisely because of our lack of knowledge about the history of land and place. It was this original sense of disconnection that motivated me to learn more about my genealogy and my connections to the land of Hawai'i. My work attempts to resolve my own culturally conflicting experiences and ideas about land. I am a product of both Hawaiian and European cultures, each with radically different epistemologies, especially as they relate to the land and waters of Hawai'i. My interest in these contradictions stems from being confronted with the respect and care my father showed to the land, the gods, and our ancestors, as well as the maps and documents he used in his career as an attorney specializing in land issues. I have integrated these cultural differences with my desire to convey contemporary philosophical concepts about space, time, place, and landscape.
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Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005.
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iv, 40 leaves
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Theses for the degree of Master of Fine Arts (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Art;
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