Kawika Kalama
Kawika
Kalama ( They / Them ) is a Kanaka Maoli ( Native Hawaiian ), Filipino,
and Chinese multidisciplinary teaching artist, photographer, and
farmer. Their work explores how we are connected to the Honua ( Earth ),
our communities, and food systems, encouraging people of all cultures
to embrace their histories, reconnect with their cultures, and
perpetuate traditional ways of being. Their work is inspired by
photographers like Matika Wilbur, Kapulei Flores, and Minor White and
intellectuals like Audre Lorde, Maria Lugones, and bell hooks.
Cohabitation and reconnecting with nature, mindfulness of place, and
subverting entrenched systems are motifs that are heavily influenced by
their family’s Daoist, Buddhist, and Native Hawaiian beliefs.
Kalama
is a teaching artist in Portland, Oregon. They have the honor of
teaching at Kindness Farm, Grace Art Camp, and Past Lives. Their work
has been shown at the Lincoln City Cultural Center and Hallie Ford
Museum of Fine Art.
