O'Whyhee

O'Whyhee is how ships' captains entered into their logs, pre-1820s visits to the chain of newly discovered paradise-like islands found in the vast Pacific Ocean (see: Grapes of Canaan; Albertine Loomis).

Born in Michigan, I grew up traveling extensively in Europe, Asia and the Pacific.

At the age of seven and during my first Island visit, Hawai'i made a lasting impression on me. Later, while serving in the military my appreciation for tropical beauty and the diversity of Pacific Island cultures deepened and remained with me as I returned to civilian life, the mainland, and my education in the arts.

After completing my formal training, and with a wife and small child, I was on a spiritual quest and by a chance meeting with an exceptional individual, drawn once again to Island life. While steeped in Hawai'i's beauty and culture, I experimented with various media to depict Island people, eventually choosing oil paints to articulate my perceptions of tropical form and color. After several years—and the birth of a second child—I was featured by Aloha Magazine as guest artist.

I feel it is the nearness of native culture that ignites in each of us a raw and life affirming nerve, extending outwards to the beauty of its natural surroundings that overwhelm the senses. Or perhaps, for me, it is the proximity of a fellow indigenous people. My mother's family is from northern Finland, where the population is comprised of many indigenous Saami people. The Saami are the native tribes that migrated along the Arctic colds to follow or herd reindeer along the northernmost stretches of Norway, Sweden and Finland, and throughout Russia. These are not the early Finda, the forest people that extended as far south as Moscow. My cousins still reside inside the Arctic Circle, where I visited once, there, and in Oulu and eastward, toward the now-Russian border with Finland. The word in Finnish for Finland is Suomi, an obvious derivative of Saami.

My art is transfigurative. In my rendering of native Islanders I employ a direct, live painting style that evokes the deep, pervasive spirituality (often mixed with superstition, as was my Finnish grandmother) of the Islands and join it with the honesty of figurative realism expressed between artist and model. In my treatment of the female figure I try to strike a seductive balance between naturalism and classicism, while male figuratives exude energy and a lack of self-consciousness. I attempt to suspend time in my paintings by a careful selection of visual cues. These efforts combine to reflect the nobility of spirit I find in native Islanders and other agrarian cultures.

While the expressiveness of figures is central to my work I explore further, investigating how surface color and form can create deeper dimensions. By gently merging planar elements within my representational art, I instinctively pursue qualities that exist beyond the observable ... while fieldhands, fishermen, musicians and dancers provide the viewer with the timelessness of human experience and classical ideals.