In his official portrait, former Gov. David Ige stands tall in an office at the Capitol, where he spent eight years leading the state. The background includes a photo of his family and plaques that honor his Okinawan heritage or were gifted to him during his term.
The eighth governor of Hawai‘i faced the 2018 false alert about an incoming ballistic missile, the volcanic eruption that destroyed over 700 homes, and the controversial construction plan for a multibillion-dollar telescope that led to protests on Maunakea.
“Essentially the governor portraits tell the good and the bad,” said Kamakani Konia, the director of the arts in public places program at the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. “The hope is that whenever someone from Hawai‘i sees a governor portrait, they’re immediately able to place themselves that they remember, and they remember how it affected them on an emotional level or a personal level.”
The state foundation will unveil Ige’s portrait on Sunday in the governor’s ceremony room at the Capitol.
The artist behind the oil painting is Kirk Kurokawa, a Maui artist who specializes in painting native birds, flowers and portraits. He previously painted then-Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye.
Kurokawa said he likes to sit and talk to his subjects to get a better understanding of how to paint them. From seeing Ige on the news before, Kurokawa said he saw him in a different light.
“I was surprised, but not surprised at the same time,” Kurokawa said. “He’s just a regular husband and dad like anybody else.”
Kurokawa was selected from a pool of artists. Konia said that Kurokawa has a speciality with painting hands. It’s something that Kurokawa said can be difficult to achieve.
“It takes a lot of practice,” Kurokawa said. “It’s a point of where I want to show my skills.”
Ige said he felt the most comfortable with Kurokawa and enjoyed getting to know his family. He looked at past governors’ portraits to get an idea of where he wanted to place his. He tried Washington Place but settled on the governor’s office, where he spent most of his time.
“When you think about the portrait that will live on for 100 years and it will capture the legacy of the admiration, it was a daunting challenge, especially for someone like me who is new to the process,” Ige said.
Kurokawa’s work focuses on getting every detail in the oil painting — from Ige’s mole on the top of his right eye to the neckline of his aloha shirt.
There are currently six governor portraits, going from Abercrombie to John A. Burns.
Konia said there’s room for two more portraits, including Ige and current Gov. Josh Green. After that, the state foundation faces the challenge of finding new space.
“It’s a balancing act of curating history within the limits of finite space: displaying every single governor portrait tells a complete story, but it’s not practical in an office where any infrastructure needs to be prioritized for executive functions,” Konia said.
He added that the next governor might decide to remove all the portraits from the ceremony room and decorate it with something else or nothing at all.
HPR will share images of Ige's new portrait when they become available.
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