K E A L A   K A I

A former Lifeguard for the County of Kauai, he is also a crew member of the Polynesian Voyaging Canoe “Hokule’a” and a builder of Kauai’s Voyaging Canoe Namahoe. Keala displays incredible insight, his artwork provides such intricate details of Hawaii’s traditional cultural artifacts and practices. Very rare is it that your artist is also a Voyager, recreating the adventures of his ancestors aboard Hawaii’s most famous voyaging canoe. His voyages aboard Hokule’a has taken him to Japan, Palmyra Atoll and recently, the Malama Honua Worldwide voyage throughout the South Pacific Islands of Tahiti, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, American Samoa, Australia, and the East Coast of America from Virginia to Miami, Florida. His artwork hangs in the homes of the most influential people in Hawaii’s voyaging history. His canoe art is frequently seen as a dominant cultural symbol not only in Hawaii, but throughout Polynesia and has directly touched and enriched the lives of people throughout the world.

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Writing an artist bio is personally one of the hardest things for me to do.  My art is an accumulation of inspirations of so many extraordinary people, my art survives today because it focuses on the very core of the Hawaiian Culture. To the Polynesian Voyaging Society, I would like to express my fondness appreciation in helping me through my greatest voyage of all, the voyage of Life and the voyage to know oneself. To John Kruse, Dennis Chun, Nainoa, Thompson, Bruce Blankenfeld, Onohi Paishon, Kalepa Babayan, Billy Richards and all my crew mates, through all the miles and all the smiles and all the storms, thank you for allowing me your shoulders to stand on. To Hokule’a, thank you for always bringing us home safely, and to Diane Hughes for putting up with the ups and downs of an artists who also, never stopped believing in me. It is because of all of you that I have a stage, when I pick up my pencil, in my heart I will always pick up the “Mana” of all of you.

Each of my creations are deep personal emotional expressions of what I feel. To understand my art is to understand the very unique and special culture I represent. My drawings are my voice!

​O au no,
Keala Kai