A familiar face on Oʻahu seen from H-1 westbound on the Lunalilo Street exit is now more vibrant.
It’s the face of a Native Hawaiian woman. Her face is calm and composed. She has one green eye and one brown eye, and wears a red lei poʻo made of fern.
The large-scale mural called “Mahina” was painted eight years ago by Kamea Hadar, a Hawai‘i-based artist known for his "hybridism" style, mixing traditional and modern art.
Last week, Hadar revisited the piece at the Kewalo apartment building.
“She has faded significantly since then,” Hadar said. “Not only did I want to revive her, but also use material that I knew would last for many more years to come.”
He started repainting the mural on Feb. 17 for his 42nd birthday. At first, he wanted to touch up her eyes, but then slowly repainted her whole face.
He was offered to be paid for his work on the building, but Hadar said he declined because of his pride in his work.
“You won’t hear about a mural being touched up because when it gets faded, they’ll paint over it,” he said. “In this case, I’m lucky that it’s not being painted over and I’m able to touch it up and hopefully let it live another 10 years.”
Hadar is working on another project this week, a mural at Hale Mōʻiliʻili, an affordable high-rise apartment built by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands at the former Bowl-o-Drome site.
His outline is already mapped out, but he told HPR on Tuesday that he’s waiting for the perfect weather conditions.
Hadar said the public can expect native flora and fauna, with some ʻōhiʻa lehua blossoms and native birds. Hadar’s intention was to bring nature back into a dense city like Honolulu.
“A lot of these buildings on Oʻahu, Honolulu, specifically, as the urban landscape is becoming more dense, the only way to build is up,” he said. “Might as well infuse some of the natural imagery to these buildings.”
Hadar said the mural should be done by the end of March.
