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Cane Fire (36x48)

$10,000.00 / Sold Out

Oil on linen, 2018
36 x 48, white floater frame
Shown with "The Cane Cutter"

The painting references the immigrant and native Hawaiian field laborers who worked the sugar cane fields for harvest for nearly 200 years. The artist's connection to the industry is through her grandparents who came to Hawai‘i as field laborers among the thousands of immigrants from Asia and Europe. The intricate damask pattern references the ornate barong tagalog, or traditional Filipino men's dress shirt, implying that the beauty and finery inherent in the Filipino culture could never be diminished by the difficulty of their labors. The work is a testament to the sugar industry’s role in transforming Hawaii’s environment and social fabric in the world’s most isolated archipelago.