Kainoa Gruspe on Place, Indigenous Knowledge, and Art as Political Practice
By
@BOMBmagazine
Summary
An interview with artist Kainoa Gruspe, whose work explores relationships to place, Indigenous Hawaiian knowledge, and the politics of land and water through mixed-media sculptures. Gruspe discusses his upbringing in Hawaiʻi, the influence of his ʻohana (family), his use of materials like ironwood from the Ala Wai Golf Course and fishhooks from swordfish bills, and the spiritual and political dimensions of his art. The conversation touches on colonialism, environmental degradation, Hawaiian sovereignty, and the artist's practice of gathering materials from specific sites to embed place-based meaning into his work.
Source
Twitter / XKainoa Gruspe on Place, Indigenous Knowledge, and Art as Political Practicebombmagazine.orgKey quotes
· 5 pulledI think a lot about how we can understand our relationship to place through art, and how that can be a way of understanding our relationship to each other.
The materials I use are not just materials—they carry the history of the place they come from. That ironwood from the Ala Wai Golf Course has a story, and it's connected to the displacement of Native Hawaiians.
For me, art is a way of reclaiming space and telling stories that have been erased or marginalized.
I want my work to be in conversation with the land, not just about it. It's about building a relationship with the place itself.
The fishhook from a swordfish bill—that's not just a tool, it's an ancestor. It carries the knowledge of my people.
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