In Between Worlds (healers)
Between Worlds is a large-scale mural created for the Hui Moʻolelo programme at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College.
Developed through months of community consultation, the mural explores ancestral knowledge, healing traditions and gender diversity through the lens of Hawaiian and Filipino cultural histories. The project formed part of a wider series of murals commissioned by Maui Public Art Corps, pairing international artists with local storytellers to create public artworks deeply rooted in place.
At the centre of the work is a monumental carved stone face representing a māhū healer — an identity recognised in traditional Hawaiian culture as embodying both male and female spirit. The mural explores how identity, spirituality and landscape become intertwined across generations, creating a space for reflection, remembrance and healing.
The Story
The title Between Worlds reflects multiple layers of transition: between masculine and feminine, past and present, earth and spirit, permanence and change.
The project began with a period of listening and research. Through conversations with cultural practitioners, historians and community members, themes of ancestral wisdom, resilience and belonging emerged. Stories of māhū healers particularly resonated with my own practice, which often explores hidden histories, identity and the traces left behind by previous generations.
Rather than portraying a single individual, the mural became a symbolic figure — part human, part monument, emerging from the landscape itself. A guardian of stories held within both stone and memory.
Research & Community
The mural was informed by workshops, community gatherings and conversations with local cultural practitioners throughout Maui.
Visits to sacred sites, discussions around traditional plant medicine and explorations of queer histories in Hawaiʻi all shaped the direction of the work. These experiences transformed the project from a commission into a shared act of listening and learning.
The process reinforced an important belief in my practice: public art should do more than decorate space. It can preserve stories, honour communities and create spaces where people feel seen.
Inspired by my parallel practice as a stone sculptor, I wanted the mural to feel as though it had been uncovered rather than painted.
The central figure appears carved directly from the landscape. Rough stone textures dissolve into ocean, cliffs and sky, blurring the boundaries between body and environment. Layers of spray paint, washes and hand-painted details mimic weathered surfaces and geological formations.
The result is an image suspended between permanence and transformation — ancient yet contemporary, monumental yet deeply personal.
THE FINISHED MURAL
Installed at the heart of the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College campus, Between Worlds stands as a celebration of ancestral wisdom, resilience and cultural memory.
The mural invites viewers to pause and reflect on the many ways identity is shaped: by the landscapes we inhabit, the stories we inherit and the communities we build around ourselves.
Its scale gives it presence, but its intention is intimacy — creating a moment of connection within a busy public space.
