dry lei art // assemblage

Potpourri Meets Picasso - Sky

Potpourri Meets Picasso - May Day

Flower Moonbow - Blue Jade

Flower Moonbow - White Orchid

Lei Island - Lei He'e (Octopus)

Lei Island - Lei Honu (Turtle)

Lei Island - Lei Nalu (Wave)

Lei Island - Lei Pulelehua (Butterfly)

Lei Island - Lei 'Iwa

Lei Plastic I'a (Fish)

Lei Natural I'a (Fish)

RE-LEI’D

If you live in Hawai’i then you probably have dried lei hanging somewhere in your home. I would hold onto lei for years before returning the plant materials back to the earth/ocean. I always hated getting rid of lei since they’re beautiful gifts that signify a special moment in time. But after a while what do you do, right?

I started collecting my first batch of used lei after a May Day celebration — I had no idea that they were going to later become art!

In December 2022, there was a call to artists to “repurpose, reconstruct and reimagine” existing art and turn it into something new. I took this prompt, some existing dried lei and created three abstract pieces of art (I humorously called it Potpourri meets Picasso).

My medium is assemblage and part of my process includes keeping the lei intact and hand-sewing the lei! This technique makes visually interesting pieces of art and allows me to be able to reuse the lei in future projects.

The intention behind my work is to preserve lei in a meaningful way! My art is meant to be impermanent, but with careful handling it will last decades to come.