Long before modern navigation, the original voyagers of the Pacific crossed thousands of miles of open ocean without instruments, without maps. They read the stars. They followed the currents. They trusted something ancient and internal that told them exactly where to go, and they arrived.

The Hōkūleʻa canoe carried that knowledge back into the world when it was nearly lost. For those of us with roots in that lineage, it is more than a historical vessel. It is proof that we have always known how to find our way home.

The sea turtle has always been sacred in Hawaiian tradition, a creature of deep time, unhurried and certain, moving through the world as if it has always known exactly where it belongs. In this piece, the turtle swims not through ocean but through galaxy, a vast universe scattered with light, because the stars and the sea have always been the same map. While it may seem new and perhaps even scary to the turtle, the truth is, it has always known the way. And it has always been capable.

This piece is a reminder that guidance is not something outside of you waiting to be found. It is something you were born carrying. The stars did not lead the canoe. They confirmed what the navigators already knew in their bones.

Hokulea is for the collector who has felt lost and found their way back. Who understands that some knowledge skips generations but never disappears. That the light that guided those first voyagers across the Pacific is the same light living inside you right now.

You already know the way. Trust it.

Acrylic on wood cradled canvas
12”x12”

Real orchids, celestite, quartz, resin, freshwater pearl, plaster, fiber optic lighting

$1,000

This painting is available for purchase. You can currently purchase it at the Kayenta Center for the Arts. And it will be available to take home on June 31st. Each painting comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.