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Melissa Chimera

@melissachimera

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Landcare x Art x Land & People Podcast
@hawaiicontemporary @honolulumuseum @arabamericanmuseum @sharjahart @hawaii_sfca @anchoragemuseum @ctahr
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It’s here! The #HT25 Hawaii Triennial 2025 opens today, and so does “Hulihonua, Transformed Landscapes” at Foster Botanical Garden. This public installation came together with the help of so many friends and conservationists—landscape designer Leland Miyano, architect Alika Romanchak, general contractor Tyler Devrell, Oahu DLNR Forestry Manager Marigold Zoll @marigoldsky, Native Ecosystem Services @whoistmarsh, @aliciabrimhall and my friends and hunters on Maui who collected these antlers (@mountainsoljah_01, Zadoc Brown, Henrik Lyons, Bryon Stevens, Carey Shewmaker). Mahalo to Foster Botanical Garden, the curatorial team and @hawaiicontemporary for your support! —————————- Melissa Chimera Hulihonua, Transformed Landscapes 2025 Deer antlers, goat skulls, steel, wood, native vegetation and water Born in Hawai‘i to Lebanese and Filipino ancestry, Melissa Chimera merges her roles as conservationist and mixed-media artist to explore species extinction, human migration, and globalization—three subjects that are often investigated together on a single canvas. Three decades of environmental education and land stewardship in the Pacific has inspired her artistic practice. This installation grapples with environmental catastrophes caused by empire and extraction through the story of native seeds, mulch, cow bones, deer and goat skulls and antlers. Her work references the impact of invasive hoofed animals brought to Hawaiʻi in 1778, which have disrupted native ecosystems and supported subsistence hunting in the present. The title of the work alludes to Haumea, Hawaiian goddess of earth and fertility, symbolizing radical renewal of the earth, while the display of water, seeds, and vegetation signifies nature’s cycle of creation. The translated text reads, “The land is chief, the man (or person) is the servant.” This work suggests the transformative potential for people and ‘āina and encourages viewers to reflect on how healing can emerge through reimagining our fractured human experience. taken in Foster Botanical Garden by @melissachimera
10
2 years ago
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“Chain Migration”, 2024 Oil on canvas, linen, kozo paper and acrylic mixed media sewn onto burned silk, 154” wide x 14 ft tall. The mixed media sculpture includes me as a child among my family members traversing from the Philippines and Lebanon to America (left panel) as told through the public archive of place names from ship manifests, census records, etc. stitched at the bottom. The right panel references today’s journeys made by contract South Asian migrant fishermen of Honolulu Harbor, health care and hospitality workers, and political asylum seekers. The work calls into question the tenuous and fraught relationship between immigrants—both legal and undocumented—and their countries of departure and arrival as they search for work, family or evade imprisonment and death. taken in First Hawaiian Center Downtown by @melissachimera
3
2 years ago
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Reposting from @honolulumuseum ❤️‍🔥 ・・・ Women have played a huge role in the history of Hawai‘i, from ancient mana wāhine to more recent settlers. On #internationalwomensday, we look at Hawai‘i Island artist Melissa Chimeraʻs painting "The Farthest Shore," on view in Gallery 29/Arts of Hawai‘i, a tribute to the immigrants who made their way to the islands over the past two centuries. Her large-scale diptych repeats text found on various family documents whose naturalization papers include their signatures and the line "So help me God," paired with images of activists, immigrant healthcare workers, children in Filipina attire at Maui festivals, children in refugee camps, families moving in migrant caravans, and military scenes derived from border disputes around the world. A portal in the form of a doorway offers passage into a different world, with plants endemic to Hawai‘i rendered as an armature for the painted figures.        Born and raised in Hawai‘i, Chimera is a descendant of Filipino and Lebanese immigrants. She studied natural resources management at the University of Hawai‘i, and has worked as a conservationist since 1996. #hawaiiart #artofhawaii #madeinhawaii #filam #filipinoamerican #pinay #pinaypower taken in Honolulu Museum of Art by @melissachimera
4
4 years ago
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Titled "We Are the Sea," this painting by @melissachimera incorporates a map of #lebanon🇱🇧 and appears in the feature "Women in Times of Conflict." Curated by Lebanese American poet Adele Ne Jame, the collection includes powerful work by ten writers and visual artists responding to war and its tragic consequences. See https://www.hawaii.edu/vice-versa/women-in-times-of-conflict/. taken in Hawaii by @melissachimera
7
4 months ago
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‘O Ka Wai Mai: from Lāhaina to the Litani is on view now until February 18 @theartgalleryuhmanoa ! So many hands, hearts, minds and voices went into this exhibition that was 14 months in the making. Thanks to the brilliant artists @reembassous @kahiching @thepuamohalas and poets including my mom @nejameadele, Brandy Nālani McDougall, and Irish poet Geraldine Mills for lending their words to this conversation about land, water and people. My deepest gratitude to @jaimey_faris who helped me curate this show and especially @thepuamohalas for her unwavering dedication and for bringing Pūlama Collier’s voice to bless our space. This was the hardest project I’ve ever undertaken and I’m so proud to be in the company of this tour de force. PC: Sheika Alghezawi, Hina Kneubuhl, Jaimey Faris, Chuck Chimera taken in University of Hawai'i at Mānoa by @melissachimera
9
9 months ago
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Installation day with the @uhmanoa_art dream team! @jaimey_faris and @leeannali came up with the gallery design for @thepuamohalas @reembassous @kahiching and @melissachimera while @surfaceproof and @shartnoggin handled the install. We are so excited to show you this work. O Ka Wai Mai opens in a week! Sunday January 18 at 1 pm at the UH Manoa Art Dept gallery 🖤🖤💚 taken in University of Hawai'i at Mānoa by @melissachimera
24
9 months ago
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Happy New Year! We are thrilled to announce " ʻO Ka Wai Mai ﻲﻣ From Lahaina to the Litani" at @uhmanoa_art gallery January 13 (reception January 18, 1-4 pm). This exhibition has been more than a year in the making with painter Reem Bassous @reembassous, multi-media artist and conservationist Melissa Chimera @melissachimera, sculptor Kahi Ching @kahiching and translator and kapa maker Hina Puamohala Kneubuhl @thepuamohalas. The exhibition pairs newly created artwork with the poetry of writers Adele Ne Jame @nejameadele and Brandy Nālani McDougall with lineages and/or ties to Hawai’i and the Middle East. The exhibition co-curated by @jaimey_faris is a collective conversation about the role of water as fundamental to life in seemingly disparate geographies--Hawai’i, Palestine and Lebanon. The artists and writers explore their connection as it relates to military occupation, sovereignty and the possibilities of a future where water flows freely absent war and greed. taken in University of Hawai'i at Mānoa by @melissachimera
6
10 months ago
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“We Are the Sea”, oil and silk on linen, 48” x 78”. ​​This work brings together two seas. On the right, the work references 37 freedom flotillas of Gaza, which since 2007 have sought to break the decades long restriction on food, water and supply delivery to Palestine. On the left are the boats and water vessels that came to Lahaina’s aid in the immediate aftermath of the 2023 fires which destroyed the entire town and claimed 102 lives. In the center a woman rises, with the Litani watershed of Lebanon across her body. She offers ‘ulu (breadfruit) and a protective hand deflecting harm. She is the feminine keeper of wisdom and giver of life—a reminder that the creative life force embodied in the earth and within those who resist subjugation will always return to reclaim the land from those who seek to dominate through consolidation of resources, violence and greed. The painting will premiere at the exhibition “O Ka Wai Mai: from Lāhaina to the Litani” next month in Honolulu, Hawai’i, an exhibition to benefit the recovery of peoples in Lāhaina, Lebanon and Palestine. by @melissachimera
10
10 months ago
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As we wrap up Filipino American History Month, we mahalo you all for celebrating with us! 🇵🇭✨ For our final Art in Public Places highlight, we’re featuring Cane Fields, Teodulo and Segundo by Melissa Chimera, a deeply personal work honoring the Filipino laborers and ancestors who helped shape Hawaiʻi’s history. Cane Fields, Teodulo and Segundo by Melissa Chimera oil, ink, and silk on linen, 2018 Born and raised in Hawai‘i, artist Melissa Chimera is a descendant of Filipino and Lebanese immigrants. Her artwork often reflects her interest and research into conservation, globalization and human migration. In Cane Fields, Teodulo and Segundo, Chimera portrays two male ancestors combined as a single figure. An image of the artist’s grandfather, Teodulo, is layered upon an image of the artist’s great-grandfather, Segundo. Words and dates were scanned from the ship manifest, documenting Teodulo’s arrival in Hawai‘i and Segundo’s date of death, and then applied to the painting’s surface. Both ancestors lived their years in Hawai‘i on sugar plantations, from their arrival to Honolulu until their departure from or passing in the plantation camps. [continued in the comments] To learn more about this piece and others in the Art in Public Places Collection, visit SFCA.Hawaii.gov/app-art. #CapitolModern #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth #Filipino #HawaiiArt #HawaiiArtist #CapitolModernHawaii #HawaiiStateArtMuseum #ArtInPublicPlaces #ArtInPublicPlacesCollection #SupportLocalArtists Reel features Cane Fields, Teodulo and Segundo by Melissa Chimera, a layered oil, ink, and silk painting depicting two Filipino ancestors and elements of plantation life, honoring immigrant laborers in Hawaiʻi. by @melissachimera
4
a year ago
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Work in progress: 15,214 burned holes and counting, one for each child murdered in Gaza. Levantine water vessels care of Dina Srouji’s ‘Grave Goods’ series and a gourd in the Bishop Museum’s collection reference our bodies as vessels for water, for life. I have at least another 4,000 holes to burn in this 45 ft bolt of silk. Day 693 of the ongoing catastrophe, nakba. by @melissachimera
10
a year ago
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How can 360 deer antlers tell the story of climate grief? #HawaiiTriennial2025 artist @MelissaChimera breaks it down in the latest episode of the Land and People podcast. 🎧🌱🎙️ HT25 artist and co-host Chimera sits down with Dr. Jaimey Faris (@jaimey_faris) of University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (@uhmanoanews) to talk extinction, migration, and the radical power of care through art. Chimera’s HT25 installation “Hulihonua: Transformed Landscapes”—on view now at Foster Botanical Garden (@honolulubotanicalgardens)—transforms native plants, flowing water, and antlers into a hauntingly beautiful meditation on environmental loss. 🎧 Tap the link in bio to listen. ➡️ Want to experience it in person—with the artist herself? TONIGHT ONLY. Join us Wednesday, April 30 for a rare evening tour, where Chimera and fellow HT25 artist Brandon Ng (@b_kh_ng) will be there in person to share insight alongside the garden’s docent. No crowds, just golden light, storytelling, and the art. 🌅 Want to see it in person? TONIGHT ONLY. Join us Wednesday, April 30 for a rare, after-hours evening tour at Foster Botanical Garden—where you’ll explore “Hulihonua” and “You May Be Loved,” a striking site-specific work by HT25 artist Brandon Ng (@b_kh_ng), who will be there in person to share insight. No crowds—just golden light, stories, and the art. 🕓 4:30 PM + 6 PM 📍 Foster Botanical Garden 🎟️ Link in bio to register | Includes a special gift bag All proceeds benefit Friends of Honolulu Botanical Gardens + Hawai‘i Contemporary. taken in Foster Botanical Garden by @melissachimera
6
a year ago
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🌿💧 What does it mean to heal the land—and ourselves? Join #HawaiiTriennial2025 artist and conservationist @MelissaChimera for a powerful Walk + Talk through Foster Botanical Garden (@honolulubotanicalgardens) alongside horticulturist and curator Talia Portner. Together, they’ll guide a conversation on invasive species, environmental collapse, and restoration—right at the site of Chimera’s hauntingly beautiful HT25 installation, “Hulihonua” (2025). 📅 Sunday, April 20 🕙 10-11 am 📍 Foster Botanical Garden | 180 N Vineyard Blvd 🎟️ Admission: $3–5 | RSVP requested (link in bio) Through art, ecology, and Indigenous knowledge, Chimera and Portner invite us to reflect on how healing can emerge from disruption. 🌱🤝🌍 Bring a picnic blanket, an umbrella, your curiosity, and your community. by @melissachimera
2
a year ago
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