‘O ‘Ailā’au: Kīlauea Iki, original acrylic, graphite, aerosol, and polyurethane on wood by Carl F. K. Pao
Dr. Mārata Tamaira, curator, writes, “In his series of abstract paintings on canvas and wood panels, Carl reflects on the volcano deity ʻAilāʻau, who predates the more widely known goddess Pele in the Hawaiian pantheon and from whom the artist descends. Over the last century, ʻAilāʻau’s story has largely receded into obscurity. Yet the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea on Hawaiʻi Island, along with its continued activity, has signaled what many kūpuna (elders) and cultural practitioners understand to be the triumphant reawakening of a long-sleeping god. Pao’s new works seek to return ʻAilāʻau to the center of collective remembrance—not as a challenger to the Pele narratives, but as a coequal presence within a richer, deeper, and more expansive cosmology.
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.
In working toward this state of pono, Pao restores a once-forgotten god to contemporary consciousness and, in doing so, reanimates the life-affirming flow of ancestral connection.”
