Kapa-making (barkcloth) is central to Lehuauakea’s interdisciplinary art practice, which honours the ‘āina (land) and Native Hawaiian wisdom. The kapa-making process involves caring for the wauke (paper mulberry) plant; harvesting, soaking and beating the bark into delicate pieces of cloth; and sourcing and preparing pigments from local earth and plant materials. It also involves preparing the intricately engraved i‘e (wooden beaters) and ‘ohe kāpala (bamboo stamps), and then printing the intricate motifs and patterns onto the textured surface of the kapa.

The work Ua ka ua, Kahe ka wai 2022 celebrates the relationships to people and place that allow the artist to practise kapa-making as a māhū Kanaka ‘Ōiwi (third gender Native Hawaiian) practitioner living and working in Santa Fe, in the United States. The title of the work translates as ‘the rain falls, the water flows’ — a Hawaiian proverb that touches on nature’s predisposition to maintaining balance. The proverb also implies that nature will prevail against the mounting effects of humankind’s interventions.

Through the layered use of colour and pattern, the kapa embodies Lehuauakea’s reflections on this conviction. The red ochre and black charcoal/soot pigments are significant to Native Hawaiian peoples and speak to cycles of creation, destruction and fertility, while 12 different ‘ohe kāpala (bamboo stamp) patterns highlight the multitude of natural elements needed to sustain thriving ecosystems. The pigments and patterns also honour the Kumulipo (Native Hawaiian creation chant), which states that everything comes from pō (darkness/night), a space fertile with possibility.