Devin Oishi

O ke au i kahuli wela ka honua Devin Oishi

This is a catalogue of recent work. Most of the pieces included were part of an exhibit at Fishcake. Included related work to round out the thematic message. The exhibit took place in the summer- the time of K?- during a global pandemic, the social instability caused by racial prejudice that was punctuated by the George Floyd incident, and the original intent of the exhibit - to call for people to take action and care for the environment as if it were their own family. O ke au i kahuli wela ka honuaAt the time when the earth became hot. This is the first line of the epic chant, He Kumulipo that traces the genealogy of man ending with Lonoikamakahiki, the high chief of the island of Hawai'i and father of Kalaniopu'u who met Captain Cook and nurtured Kamehameha the Great before the uniting of the Kingdom. The chant traces his genealogy back through 2000 years of men including the demi-gods M?ui and Kamapua'a. All of us kanaka maoli can find someone we are related to on this journey. The chant does not begin with the birth of the first man. It continues on for eons to the beginning of life on Earth with the Coral polyp. He Kumulipo reaches back even further and shows us that we are related not only to all life but to the earth and the broad firmament itself. O ke au i kuka'iaka ka la At the time when the sun was darkened This is the 3rd line of He Kumulipo. To me the chronology suggests that the earth is being renewed along with the rebirth of the sun. The poem as a whole reinforces the holistic nature of life- we are all related. We need to care for not only each other as humans but for our relatives- all the animals and plants- and our penultimate ancestor- the earth itself. Many of our problems we experience today- racial violence, pollution, climate change- all these are related and a direct consequence of forgetting that we are all essentially one life together. This series of work is intended to remind us of our responsibility to care for, nurture, h?nai, m?lama each other.