Robert Kawika Sheer is a "son of Oahu". As a kama'aina (local), he takes special care to ask permission and give thanks to the land, sea, heavens, aumakua, and mana present in the area where these artistically spiritual performances take place; if it doesn't feel right, he's done for the night. The Hawaii state motto reads, "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness"; and hopefully, Kawika's unique style of performance-art photography evokes this sentiment.
MADAME PELE RE-IGNITING
AN OLD LAVA FLOW
Ingela Sheer writes: At Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Kawika and I venture onto this 40-year old flow in the dark of night. He then fires-off a light towards me to create the figure. Next, I exit the shot while he journeys out to where the pahoehoe (smooth flow) meets the a’a (rough flow). He points a big flashlight towards the camera and walks slowly across the frame to create the glowing lava line. After finishing this one-hour exposure, we thank the location’s spiritual energy and hope that the shot will turn out.
Robert Sheer Copyright © 2000 Sheer Entertainment. All rights reserved. Revised: August 30, 2009