iʻa

iʻa was a show about labor and knowing, through the lens of Hawaiʻi’s fish. It included artists in Hawaiʻi who have a relationship with iʻa and the diverse forms they come in. It was looking at what we learn about ourselves through the way we interact with iʻa.

curated by Amber Khan and Kainoa Gruspe

featuring

Ulamila Caginavanua, Kamehanaokalā Taylor, Nālamakūikapō Ahsing, Ricky-Thomas Serikawa, Paepae o Heʻeia, G. ʻUmi Kai, Alec Singer, Tiffany Beam, Richard Hamasaki, Kainoa Gruspe, and Amber Khan

Photos by Alec Singer

fretless ʻukulele made of fish mostly

a‘u (marlin bill) neck, a’u ku (swordfish bill) fretboard, sharkskin, ipu (gourd), kiawe tuners, cut tacks, nylon ukulele strings

2024

i love the reef and the reef loves me

Kainoa Gruspe

umaumalei skin, thread

2025

FIRE

Richard Hamasaki

digital video and sound, 5:00 runtime, richardʻs fins and goggles

2025

manini, mākāhā, kala

Amber Khan

hau, kamani, strawberry guava, ʻopihi, hāʻukeʻuke, oil paint

do robots dream of electric fish [w.i.p]

Alec Singer

projection

diagrams from “Handbook of Hawaiian Fishes” by Goslin & Brock

1. “we sweat and cry saltwater so that we know the ocean is really in our blood”

2. Dear Ancestor

3. Kai

4. Where My Friends Live

Ulamila Caginavanua

poetry, acrylic and pastel on wall

2025

Nā mea Kai

G. ʻUmi Kai

aʻu (marlin), aʻu kū (swordfish), leho (cowrie), pū (conch), koa wood, bone, cordage

tools for fishing and fighting, assorted objects and raw materials used for teaching and demonstration

formless formations (papio of ala moana)

Tiffany Beam

Charcoal on paper, yarn, nails

Moʻokuapā

Paepae o Heʻeia

Pōhaku, mangrove wood, lāʻī, koʻa

-the kuapā of Heʻeia and its moʻo, the stories the wall tells, remembering and honoring all the people that have contributed to 800 years of existence and the last 25 years of restoration, a pule of continuum.

Hoʻoniho ka niho

Paepae ke alo

Pani hakahaka

Pōhaku ka pāpale

Kawainui

T. Kamehanaokalā Taylor

ʻalaea on hau paper

Ulu Niu

T. Kamehanaokalā Taylor

ʻAlaea on Hau Paper

ʻĀweoweo

Nālamakūikapō Ahsing

ʻohe kapala on paper

Kilo iʻa 2

Nālamakūikapō Ahsing

ʻohe kapala on paper

Hoʻolilo ka wā

Ricky-Thomas Serikawa

Digital video and sound, 2:56 min runtime

2025