Native Birds of Kauaʻi
A series of painted panels honoring Kauaʻi's native waterbirds and seabirds, from the loʻi of Hanalei to the open ocean.
WHY THIS WALL
In 2021 Trysen painted a series of portable panels honoring Kauaʻi's native birds for the Kauaʻi Wildlife Coalition, working out of the Archipelago Research and Conservation office in Hanapēpē. The project was supported by the County of Kauaʻi's Rise to Work program.
Each panel gives one bird its home, lettered with its Hawaiian name, its English name, a nickname and the place it lives. The ʻalae ʻula, the Hawaiian common gallinule remembered as the fire bringer, sits among the kalo of Hanalei under a dusk sky. The ʻalae keʻokeʻo, the Hawaiian coot, nicknamed the kick boxer, swims the open water of the Kawaiʻele Waterbird Sanctuary. The ʻuaʻu, the Hawaiian petrel, rides the ocean wearing a small tracking tag, while a flock traces flight lines from the mountains out to sea, the same paths researchers follow to protect them. The series also features the koloa maoli and the mōlī.
The panels were built to travel and be shown around the island, so people could meet these birds up close.
In the press: Maui Now and The Garden Island.
DRAG TO REVEAL
LAYER BY LAYER
Trysen's innovative art captures the beauty of these Hawaiian birds.
WANT ONE LIKE THIS?
Every wall is designed around what it needs to teach or show the people who see it. Institutional murals run $65 to $70 per sq ft. Small murals start at $3K.
