Pu‘u Nēnē, from the series Ponoiwi

Kapulani Landgraf, Pu‘u Nēnē, from the series Ponoiwi, 2011, hand-etched silver gelatin print, 23 ⁷⁄₈ × 28 ³⁄₈ × 2 ¹⁄₂ in. (60.6 × 72.1 × 6.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, in partnership with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, 2022.46.3

Artwork Details

Title: Pu‘u Nēnē, from the series Ponoiwi
Artist: Kapulani Landgraf
Date: 2011
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 23 ⁷⁄₈ × 28 ³⁄₈ × 2 ¹⁄₂ in. (60.6 × 72.1 × 6.4 cm)
Credit Line: Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, in partnership with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
Mediums Description: hand-etched silver gelatin print
Classifications: Photography
Subjects: Landscape — bird’s eye view
Object Number: 2022.46.3
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2022.46.3

Artwork Description

Kapulani Landgraf is a Kanaka 'Oiwi (Native Hawaiian) artist whose work focuses on the impact of colonization and land development in Hawai'i. To create this series, she researched and photographed sacred Hawaiian sites that have been disturbed by sand mining. Each image documents a specific place where such an incident has occurred.

Landgraf uses a motorized tool to carve into the surface of her photographic prints, echoing the violence done to the land. The wavy lines in Kapukaulua, for example, reference the roads built with sand extracted from ancestral burial sites in Maui. In Pu'u Nene, the artist traces the outline of a now flattened site with the simple statement, "the heiau [sacred place] of Papa Nene, was located at the base of Pu'u Nene." The dispassionate tone belies the protest and mourning at the heart of Landgraf's project.

Gallery label, 2024