Dec 12, 2020

“Kona’s Resilient Drylands” invitational

Curator, Mina Ellison invited me to create a piece for the Donkey Mill Art Center's exhibition, "Nā Māla, Kona's Coffee Heritage History". I was inspired to speak to the future of Kona’s agricultural landscape, especially in the wake of climate change. My painting, Kona's Resilient Drylands, illustrates an aerial perspective of the Kona moku (district). The areas highlighted with the iridescent paint show Kona’s areas for dryland agriculture which will be resilient in food production in the events of climate change. This data comes from three end-of-century climate change scenarios presented in a 2019 study entitled, "The potential of indigenous agricultural food production under climate change in Hawaiʻi” authored by N. Kurashima, L. Fortini, and T. Ticktin. In creating the piece I was inspired to show the ahupua`a - the the traditional subdivision of land from the mountain to the sea. By highlighting areas of resiliency, my hope is it will empower audiences to prioritize indigenous local food production in these areas. which can meet the State’s current and future food needs.