The Volcano Art Center invites you to attend ‘O ‘Ailā‘au: Reawakening a Sleeping God, a fine art exhibition featuring the paintings by Kanaka Maoli artist, Carl Franklin Kaʻailāʻau Pao. This free exhibit will be on display from April 4 through May 10, from 9AM-5PM daily in Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. While the exhibit is free, park entrance fees apply.
In his artistic process, Pao builds successive layers of acrylic paint on canvas and wood panels, using a large straight-edged spatula to scrape the paint across each surface. This forceful gesture both deposits and excavates—applying new layers while simultaneously revealing fragments of those beneath. The dynamic interplay of concealment and exposure echoes the stratified lava flows laid down by ʻAilāʻau over millennia. At the same time, it evokes the layered moʻolelo that are reemerging after a long period of concealment.
Pao introduces more structured compositions of positive and negative space using masking tape and acrylic aerosol. These forms symbolize attributes of ʻAilāʻau and reflect the artist’s ongoing dialogue with his namesake. The interplay between positive and negative elements embodies the principle of pono—here understood as the recognition that multiple moʻolelo can coexist in balance and unity. Carl F.K. Pao is a celebrated Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) artist born and raised in Kailua on the island of O‘ahu. His artwork features in private and public collections both in Hawai‘i and internationally, including at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, the Hawai‘i State Foundation ofthe Arts, the Peabody Essex Museum, and the Tjibaou Cultural Center in Nouméa, New Caledonia. He is the host and co-producer of the art series Art Hunter and for the past 25 years has taught high school art at Kamehameha Schools.
The public is invited to meet the artist at the opening reception on Saturday, April 4th from 2-4pm and at a book signing event on Saturday, May 2nd from 11am -1pm. The book titled Mother Tree, Daughter Seed: Lessons in Slow Growth was written by exhibit curator Dr. Mārata Tamaira and illustrated by Pao. For more information about the exhibition contact the VAC Gallery at (808)967-7565.