Working together for over three decades, our sculptures are a collaborative effort from beginning to end. We use traditional blacksmith methods of fire, hammer, and anvil to create each unique art object and functional art piece. Steel is the primary medium we use, but we incorporate wood, glass, copper, and other materials as well.
Taking inspiration from nature, music, and dance, our work often reflects flora, fauna, and culturally significant subject matter. After our very first trip to Hawaii, as artists who work with molten steel, we were drawn to the natural beauty of the volcano.
Our method of hot working steel involves initial shaping at the same temperature as Kīlauea’s flowing lava, at around 2,000 degrees. Upon our first visit to Hawaii many years ago, we were consumed by immediate and lasting artistic inspiration from seeing nature create such beautiful, artistic, natural forms, often looking like they were sculpted by the hands of an artist.
Kīlauea has environmental and cultural influence on all that surrounds it. Our works often express the delicate and co-dependent balance that exists between endemic species. The rhythms of the volcano affect all aspects of life on the island, be it natural or built by humans, endemic or introduced, and by nature it influences the art that is created here.