Sean is an artist and spatial practitioner working across contemporary art, spatial practice, and civic engagement. His practice integrates sculpture, moving image, cartography, and site-based intervention to examine relationships between land, water, architecture, and power. Grounded in archipelagic and oceanic ways of knowing, the work approaches place as an interconnected familial, ecological, cultural, and political system rather than a fixed site.

Sean’s projects are realized through exhibitions, installations, public artworks, film and video, and long-term spatial and civic initiatives. Situated within the expanded field of sculpture and in dialogue with land art, cartographic practices, and institutional critique, the work treats form, site, and research as inseparable. Sculptural and moving-image works often function as spatial propositions—testing how materials, maps, and architectures can register historical erasure, environmental transformation, and alternative futures.

A defining aspect of Sean’s practice is the extension of artistic inquiry beyond the exhibition context and into the place-based conditions it addresses. Through their civic practice After Oceanic and the grassroots nonprofit Hawaiʻi Nonlinear, projects are developed as applied, durational works that embed artistic methods within real sites, communities, and governance frameworks. These platforms are not just ancillary professional roles but primary structures through which the work’s spatial, ecological, and political questions are enacted and sustained over time—where the transformations proposed by the artwork become materially and socially operative.

Sean’s work engages sites shaped by settler colonialism, militarization, and extractive development, often focusing on infrastructures of water, land division, and urbanization in Hawaiʻi and across the Pacific. Imagination operates in the practice as a practical tool, supporting forms of repair, stewardship, and collective responsibility at human and regional scales rather than functioning solely as symbolic representation.

Sean has presented work in solo and group exhibitions, public commissions, and biennials in the United States and internationally, including major museum contexts and triennials. The practice has been supported by artist residencies and fellowships and has been written about extensively by art historians, architects, and cultural critics. Sean has also designed and taught courses in leading university and public forums and serves in cultural leadership roles in Hawaiʻi. Writing and research by and about the work appear in scholarly journals, exhibition catalogs, and public platforms.

Informed by intergenerational, familial, and matriarchal relationships to Hawaiʻi, Sean’s practice understands art as cultural infrastructure—capable of holding historical complexity while contributing to long-term ecological, social, and spatial futures.

Sia Figiel, born in 1967 is a Samoan novelist and poet whose work is published in New Zealand. She is often described as Samoa's first woman novelist. Her first book, where we once belonged (1996), won the Best First Book award in the South East Asia/South Pacific region of the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 1997. Her second novel is They who do not grieve (1999). While both are novel-length narratives, neither conforms to a 'traditional' narrative structure. One account from publisher Pasifika Press suggests that where we once belonged'attempts to structurally represent one of its central themes: the dominance of the community identity and continuity over the identity and growth of the individual.'

Figiel has also published two volumes of prose poetry, Girl in the Moon Circle (1996), and To a Young Artist in Contemplation (1998). Her poetry won the 1994 Polynesian Literary Competition.

Well known as a performance poet, she is a frequent guest at literary festivals. Figiel has held residencies at the Institucio de les Lletres Catalanes, Spain; the Pacific Writing Forum at the University of the South Pacific; the University of Technology, Sydney; and the East West Center – Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawaii.

Lanakila Mangauil, born and raised in Honoka'a/ Hāmākua Hawai'i, is a Kumu Hula, Kumu 'ike Hawai'i, a hands-on community advocate and Mālama 'Āina, a Kia'i Mauna, and a representative of Hawai'i across the world. Lanakila is a supporter of Justice for kānaka maoli, and advocate for creating a Pono future for all of Hawai'i and our world community.

He has been an educator with the state Department of Education’s ʻIke Hawaiʻi Program for over a decade.  A cultural protector and cultivator, a Kumu Hula and community leader, Mangauil activates the community through cultural and environmental education.

Mikael Pono is a designer from Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi, whose work is deeply rooted in the land and guided by ancestral knowledge. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, he has spent the past four years working across the fashion industry with brands including Diesel, Marni, Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, Rocket Ahuna, and Who Decides War.

Grounded in a commitment to sustainability and cultural respect, Pono works exclusively with natural fibers and dyes, creating garments that honor the ʻāina. His designs draw inspiration from nature and the wisdom of his kūpuna, offering a modern expression of Pasifika identity.

His work has been featured in Vogue, i-D, WWD, Harper’s Bazaar, and Glamour, and showcased on global stages including New York Fashion Week and the Met Gala. Pono continues to uplift and share the ingenuity, resilience, and evolving narratives of Hawai'i's ʻāina and kanaka.

Composer, Pianist, Hawaiian Cultural Practitioner, Drag Artist

T.J. Keanu Tario/Laritza Labouche is a multifaceted composer, pianist, and Hawaiian cultural practitioner by day, and ballroom vogue drag artist by night. They are the first Kanaka Maoli graduate of The Juilliard School, in the classical piano division, and The California Institute of the Arts. Their compositions have been performed by ensembles including the New York Youth Symphony, the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra and the Attacca String Quartet. Performances for the concert stage include ‘Capriccio’ for One Piano/Four Hands commissioned by the Aloha International Piano Festival and premiered by Lisa Nakamichi and Jon Nakamatsu. The score to short film, A Fish Out of Water, was the Official 2017 Winner of Boundless in Brooklyn: A 48 Hour Dance Film Contest and premiered at the Cinéma Majestic Passy/Écrans de Paris.

Tario’s film credits include The Jimmy Kimmel Show, HBO Max’s Generations, national commercials for ULTA Beauty and Nintendo Switch, and ‘Crimson’s Cabaret’ short film (featured winner at the Cannes World Film Festival). In combating the stress and performance anxiety in the “serious arts” world, she has been able to freely express herself through the persona of Lady Laritza. By creating art in a nonconventional way, it gives a special voice to the marginalized BIPOC LGBT+ community. Being Māhū is an entity that lives within the trans/nonbinary community. Through her continued work within the arts, she strives to inspire others to live and create freely in their truths.

Heretu Tetahiotupa of Tahiti, Moana Nui a Hiva, is a musician, composer, drawer, tattoo artist, graphic designer, and film producer.

He is passionate about both arts and sciences, having studied musicology, physics, and chemistry. He has undertaken audiovisual work for the local television channel. He is an organizing member of the contemporary music Festival Eo Himene, which showcases the musical expression of Marquesan artists. He is the founder of the collective Lucid Dream, recognized for two short films.

He participated in the making of the documentary "Patutiki, the art of Marquesan tattooing", which won the top prize at the International Oceanian Documentary Film Festival FIFO Tahiti.

He was appointed head of the COMOTHE of Nuku-Hiva (Organizing Committee of the Matava'a o Te Henua Enana), which will organized the Marquesas Islands Arts and Cultural Festival in 2023.

Heretu was selected as a #YPL24 delegate and cultural representative at FestPac Hawaiʻi!

Hawaiian Tattoo

Kawika Au is a kama'āina o ka 'ehu kai o Pua'ena who lives in Māeaea, Waialua. He is the kahu of Kahakaakāneika'ehukai and has been practicing kākau uhi for over a decade. As an uhi practitioner, Kawika's kuleana is to serve Kāne, and the lāhui. He uses his pā as a place of healing and growth for our people, land, and culture. His practice is grounded in the teachings and 'ike of his kūpuna, who include Aunty Betty and Uncle Jack Jenkins, Aunty Kanani 'Awai, and Uncle Jimmy 'Awai.

He is a makuakane, a kupuna, an artist, a poet, and an aloha ʻāina advocate. It is his goal to uplift the practice of kākau uhi, and to serve the gods, ancestors, land, and kaiāulu.

Carver, Culture Bearer

Eriki, who is of Tahitian, Marquesan, and French ancestry, grew up in Papeete, taught himself art in those early years, started to learn English from the American missionaries, and served his own church mission in his home islands in the late 1970s. Then he married Patricia Teatareva, whose ancestry traces back to Tahiti’s Tuamotu islands, and he used his self-taught artistic talents to establish and successfully run a tee shirt silk-screening business in Papeete.

In school, Eriki focused on three-dimensional art under the late Professor Jan Fisher, with whom he worked on the famous Duke Kahanamoku statue on Waikiki Beach. He also quickly secured a student job in the Polynesian Cultural Center’s graphics department, working with the late Wilma Fonoimoana and Chuck Rivers.

As a BYUH student, Eriki was named full-time Marquesas village manager, and with his artistic skills and cultural heritage with those islands, began making dramatic changes, “bringing new life not only in the compound but to the Tahitian Village as well.

After graduating, Eriki moved back to Tahiti, and began teaching art and wood carving in high school. He still lives in Papeete in the nearby district of Toahutu, but retired from teaching.

Currently Marchand is a freelance artist in demand. He is a specialist in creating unu — a type of tall Tahitian totem pole having carved three of monuments out of mahogany for the anti-nuclear tests in Tahiti, and the most recent one for the big wave at Teahupoo, where the 2024 Olympics surfing competition was held.

Dancer, Choreographer, Instructor

Bio Coming Soon!

Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher

Aruho’ia has been dancing since she could walk. Her primary role for nearly twenty years has been co-choreographer for the dance troupe MANAHAU TAHITI, with whom she has participated in Heiva I Tahiti (Hura Tau) in 2010, 2011, and 2014 and Hura Tapairu in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2018. They were awarded 2nd prize TAPAIRU, 1st prize (Aparima category) and 2nd prize (Ote'a category). The professional troupe has traveled to France, Taiwan several times, Samoa and Nouméa as well.

In 2010 Heiva I Tahiti, a festival showcasing local talent and cultural tradition for decades, Aruho’ia was crowned “Best Dancer”. This is an achievement awarded to only two very talented individuals each year.

Aruho’ia is passionate about her Tahitian culture and Ori Tahiti. As the director and lead instructor for her dance school MANAHAU, she enjoys sharing her knowledge and professional experience. Her focus in working with her students is to uplift and instill self-confidence in the younger generation of dancers.

Some of her other achievements include: Ambassador of Culture during Miss Polynesia 2009 and Miss National Tourism in Fiji during the Miss South Pacific election, and participation in the Marae Arahurahu Show with the group Ori I Tahiti (Terau Piritua). She was a member of the Jury at Hura Tapairu 2011, at Heiva de Nouméa in 2010, and at Heiva Internationale of Ori Tahiti (Matani Kainuku).

Director, Hitireva, and Arato’a School of Ori Tahiti

Kehaulani Chanquy is a celebrated leader, choreographer, and cultural ambassador, widely respected for her commitment to both preserving and evolving the art of ‘Ori Tahiti.  She leads the award-winning dance troupe Hitireva and directs the dance school Arato’a - two pillars of Tahitian dance culture.

Chanquy began dancing in childhood and went on to receive formal training at the Artistic Conservatory of French Polynesia.  When she was just 19 years old, she took over the Arato’a school, and in 2006, she founded Hitireva.  Under her guidance the troupe has earned top honors, winning the Heiva i Tahiti grand prize in the amateur division in 2009, and in the professional category in 2016 and 2024.  

In 2018, she collaborated with the Artistic Conservatory to present E Parauparau Te Ôfa’i, a piece narrating the history of the sacred marae Arahurahu. Beyond the stage, Kehaulani is also a passionate mantor, shaping the next generation of dancers and strengthening the global voice of Tahitian culture. 

Directrice, Ia Ora Te Hura, Dancer, Choreographer

Passionate about ‘Ori Tahiti since she was a child, Poerani Germain is an experienced, professional dancer. She is a former choreographer of Tamariki Poerani and the current director of IA ORA TE HURA. Her work with Tamariki Poerani in 2017 led the group to winning the 1st prize at the Heiva i Tahiti and the Hura Tapairu.

In 2022, with her own group, she won the 1st prize for Best Group - Hura Ava Tau, an Award for Best Music Composition and the Best Orchestra Award at the Heiva I Tahiti. Again at Heiva I Tahiti in 2024, in the Hura Tau category, her group won third place in addition to Best Costume (Hura Nui and Vegetal) and Best Tāne Dancer.

She considers ‘Ori Tahiti as both an art, rooted in her culture, and a way to stimulate creativity, express ourselves and feel the mana.

Artists, Carver, Cultural Practitioner

Tecumseh Ceaser is a indigenous artist, cultural consultant, and Wampum Carver. He is of Matinecock Turkey clan, Montaukett, and Unkechaug descent. his ancestors are quahog peoples, ocean peoples, and that is what calls him to carve shells in a traditional way.

 He has been making Art & jewelry for 15 years, carving quahog shells since 2016. In doing so, he continues this ancient tradition of creating wampum carvings and beads historically used in ceremonies, regalia, gifts, trade agreements, and treaty belts.

Tecumseh currently serves as the North American Advisor for the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus at the United Nations, where he advocates for Indigenous Americans' rights to member states, NGOs, and other indigenous nations. A big part of his current community work has been working on cultural revitalization, and  preservation, He is currently in residence at Flushing Town Hall, AND THE Queens Museum of Art. Tecumseh is based in New York.City.

Artist, Cultural Practitioner

Shane Weeks is a proud member of the Shinnecock Nation. His upbringing on the Shinnecock Reservation has encouraged him to take on the responsibility of making our world better for future generations. Shane grew up understanding the importance of his culture and his connection to the natural world. His father taught him to hunt and fish at just 7 years old and he carries that tradition on today. Since the age of 1, Shane has continuously represented his culture through traditional dance at his tribe's pow wow and others. He occupies many capacities sitting as a member of several boards and committees. Shane is a founding member of the Southampton Town Arts and Culture Committee, the Watermill Center Community Fellowship, , the Graves Protection Warrior Society, a former member the Slow Food East End Board and several more. In 2023 Shane was awarded the Presidential Lifetime Volunteer Award by HRM Queen Angique Monet of the Eti-Oni Lands of Nigeria and founder of the New Generation In Action organization. He actively hosts presentations, workshops and curates various events. As an artist, culture bearer, and unofficial ambassador, Shane is committed to his effort to bridge the gap between his community and the rest of the world. 

Photographer

Born and raised in Kalihi Valley, Mahinahokukauikamoana Choy-Ellis (she/her) is a Kanaka Photographer who picked up a camera at 12 and never put it down. With a curiosity that knows no bounds, Mahina and her camera can be found spending time with subjects from Professors to Drag Queens- and is grateful for every journey, letting her camera leading the way.

After 8 years in New York City, Mahina felt the call to return back home to Hawaiʻi and has since found creative support from the Lāhui and Māhūi, finding her main inspirations from both. She finds joy in capturing local artists, performers, and beyond. 

Actor, Performer

Johnny Valenz is a NYC-based actor, voice actor, and certified funny person repped by DDO Agency — yes, they saw the talent and the cheekbones. A proud Pacific Islander (Samoan/Tongan) serving big laughs and even bigger vibes. He’s also a stand-up comedian and emcee lighting up stages all over the city (and occasionally aunties’ birthday parties — by popular demand).

Whether he’s voicing a cartoon, cracking jokes at a comedy club, the voice of AMC theater telling you to silence your phones, or hosting events with more energy than your cousin’s wedding DJ, this Islander soul brings charisma, humor, and that special Pasifika spice to everything he does.

And if you think you love Beyoncé… sit down. He loves her more than everyone in his life. Yes, even you. Especially you.