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BERNICE AKAMINE
HAWAI’IAN
HAWAII, USA
MIXEDMEDIA, GLASS, AND FIBER ARTIST, PHOTOGRAPER
VISITING ARTIST, 1999
What can I as a
Native artist hope to
give to those who
follow after me,
but eyes that see
and respect for
one’s own and other
cultures.
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The Native Arts Program has done more
than simply affect the process of
art-making. Attending NAP has heightened
my awareness as a kanaka maoli Native
person, while challenging me to continue in
the pursuit of knowledge, knowing that a
great debt is owed to the ancestors.
Preservation of culture is paramount. Rather
than regurgitating the past, it is important to
produce contemporary artwork that
rings true when focusing thematically on
concepts, values, and mo’olelo (story or
tradition) or that reflects the natural world
of Hawai’i nei.
There are two very different bodies of
artwork. One is a body of private emotions
and thoughts, while the second looks at
traditional and contemporary Hawaiian
themes. On occasion the two do merge with
one another. Within both bodies of art-
work it is my aim to extract the essence or
core elements, and to present them in an
abstract form, thereby eliciting a reaction or
emotion within the viewer.