ARTIST COLLECTIVE
Various projects & collaborative experiences throughout the residency
Our collective combines artists of Hawai'i, Jamaica and Japan here on Turtle Island still voyaging as the ancient Hawaiians and Polynesians did to share their culturally rooted art practices with the greater world.
Sky Bruno is a Hawai‘i-born multimedia artist, cultural practitioner, and filmmaker. Rooted in Kanaka ʻŌiwi tradition, his work spans film, image-making, and technology, weaving memory, voice, and self-determination. From the Smithsonian to underground circles in NYC and Hawai‘i, he builds spaces for return, resistance, and story.
Katia Kalei Barricklow is a native Hawaiian independent filmmaker who uses film to uncover forgotten histories, explore the multicultural and multiethnic identity, and challenge the way that we define ourselves. Her previous work, mainly in the realm of documentary, has centred themes of diaspora, assimilation, resilience and Hawaiian history. Katia's films have screened at festivals across the U.S. and internationally, including the Hawai'i International Film Festival, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, the Philadelphia Asian American Film festival, and most recently, the Nikon Film Festival in Paris. Her first film, Longing for Hawai'i, won the Viewer's Choice Award, presented by Comcast XFinity after streaming on the Local Philly channel. Katia graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in Filmmaking & Moving Image Arts and studied EICAR (École Internationale de Création Audiovisuelle et de Réalisation) in Paris.
Matthew H. James is a contemporary artist raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, based in NYC. He earned a Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute. James builds rich visual conversations by forcing modern materials to coexist with classical techniques. Tactile, unpredictable compositions that invite viewers to peel back layers—of paint, texture, and meaning.
Kenjiro Kitade is a ceramic artist from Japan based in NYC. He moved to the U.S. when he was 13. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at New York University, where he studied ceramics. Merely a year after graduating, Kitade began establishing an international reputation by first winning the bronze at the World Ceramic Exposition in South Korea, and later showing at the highly selective SOFA show (Sculpture Objects and Funcational Art) in Chicago.
Paula Walters Parker is originally from Kingston, Jamaica, is now based in Brooklyn. Parker studied art in London and New York City. She holds a Masters in Creative Art Therapy, from Pratt Institute, a Bachelors of Fine arts from Parsons, The New School For Social Research among other certifications for teaching. Drawing on familial stories, rhythms, and experiences, her work is a celebration of resilience, curiosity, and connection. Her juxtaposition of enticing textures, bold colors, generous strokes transforms the quotidian foraged materials she employs in her work. Parker allows her art to unfold as a playful dialogue, exploring the interactions between each element as they reveal surprises.
Kris Kato is a Kahu Oli (caretaker of songs and chants) who has achieved the title, Kahu Oli Lae Oʻo, having completed the ʻuniki rites of the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation under the direction of Dr. Pualani Kanakaʻole Kanahele. His practice shares his pursuit of knowledge found in Hawaiian mele.
Claire Unabia interweaves the languages of art, film, performance and fashion to explore identity and memory. Born and raised on the North Shore of O’ahu, Hawai’i, her island home is now Lenapehoking, Brooklyn NYC for over 20 years. As a graduate of Barnard College at Columbia University with degrees in film and psychology, she has put on art shows all around the world and worked on numerous television shows and films.
Linda Kuo is the Co-Founder and Director of Dancers Unlimited. Born in Taiwan and raised in O`ahu, Linda’s artistry is shaped by cultural diversity and the vibrant arts scene in Hawai’i, and her journeys across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. She believes dance is woven into cultural identity and resilience, and her choreography addresses social and cultural issues by blending different dance styles and voices through a community-centered creative process. She is a versatile dancer trained in Hula, Ballet, Modern, House, Hip Hop, Voguing, Waacking, Hustle, Capoeira and Orisha dances. Linda holds a MFA in Dance from Bennington College, B.A in Communications and Economics from Boston College, and a certificate in Nonprofit Arts Management from New York University.She is currently a haumana (student) at Ka Pā Hula O La`akea and studies pre-contact Hawaiian instrument making with Uncle Calvin Hoe.