KAILI CHUN

Today, we live in an increasingly globalized world in which identity is used simultaneously to unite and separate. In seeking to voice our identity as a Native people, the language of visual art becomes a vital tool to communicate the wisdom and knowledge of our ancestors to an audience shaped by contemporary realities. It enables us to share lessons of the past for the building of the future. Exploring the concept of `ike pono (to see clearly, to know definitely…) from both Native and Western perspectives, we are reminded of the bible verse;

"I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you."  -Job

Like Job, the Hawaiian people suffered difficult and bewildering times...losing a large portion of their population with the coming of the po'e haole, and for many, becoming strangers in their own land.  It seems this may be at the root of our suffering today, and our constant need for approval and substantiation by non-natives. But as we have endured the insensitivity of others, trying to fit into the boxes they build for us, we maintain our vision...

Imua e nā poki`i a inu i ka wai `awa`awa (Forward my little brother and drink the bitter water [of battle]).

Finally, we would be wise to heed both the words of our own people and those of the world. In doing so, we may be able to better the choices that we make in life, share our values in a larger global community and sustain our vision.

Nau ka wae… (the choice belongs to you)

BIO

Education: The Kamehameha Schools; AB Architecture, Princeton University; MFA, University of Hawaii at Manoa. 

The artist's principal media is large-scale sculptural installations, which increasingly involve issues related to indigenous and Native Hawaiian affairs. 

She has been mentored and influenced by two important artists, Toshiko Takaezu, Princeton University, and Wright Bowman, Sr., Native Hawaiian master canoe builder and wood worker. 

Kaili has participated in one-person, juried and group exhibitions in Washington, Alaska, Hawai'i, New York and Germany. She has received several awards including, the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant, 2010; the Catherine E.B. Cox Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts (2006) from the Honolulu Academy of Arts; the Individual Artist Visual Arts Fellowship in Conceptual Art (2000) and Folk Arts Apprenticeship Awards (1999,2000,2001) from The Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. 

Kaili will be featured in the Tenth Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane Australia at the Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art in December 2021.

See more at kailichun.org or @kailichunstudio