Olivia Kailani Marohnic

Olivia Kailani Marohnic is a visual artist based on Oahu and Hawai'i Island. Her work spoke to us for the issue Inarticulate Futures because of her unique artistic approach of taking photographic moments and turning them into something like dreamscapes. You can find a catalog of her work here. For this issue, we asked Olivia about her process and this image in particular.

“When I was asked to make something that provoked a feeling of "uncertain futures", inspired by the poetry included in this issue and collaboration with the editors, I recalled the scene that inspired this image. A freshly volcanically destroyed forest in Puna on the Big Island with figures milling about in the rising steam and fumes brings to mind thoughts of the frailty of our everyday lives, and the importance of community resilience in the face of disaster and uncertainty."

"For this piece I used a digital painting program called Heavypaint, which is a new and simple program loved by traditional and digital artists everywhere. In contrast to many of the digital art tools available today boasting unlimited capabilities, Heavypaint's motto is "learn through limitation". Limited tools and methods force the user to think about the process of painting in a much similar way to using traditional (analog) media. I love the blend of the unapologetically harsh digital shapes, lines, and brushstrokes contrasted with the surprisingly painterly effect that Heavypaint can provide, and thought it perfectly suited the "edge of reality" feel that the editors had in mind for this piece.