I am a fourth generation, mixed, queer, and non-binary artist that was born and raised in Hawai’i. As a child my deepest relationships were with the environment I grew up in; I felt raised by the plants I loved to study, the colors of Haleakalā crater, and the ocean. The history of Hawai’i and the illegal overthrow of the kānaka maoli monarchy made me question early on what it means to be from somewhere. I have always contended with how loving a place might manifest into action.

These early experiences have shaped the questions I bring into making my work. I think a lot about homelands, ancestral lineage, memory, and the queer landscapes that raised me. Through my process I find ways to create a visual shorthand for these ideas through color and pattern.

My work centers my relationships with material and process. As Tim Ingold writes in The Textility of Making, “material can only be followed.” I do not see my materials as passive, but as collaborators that teach me how to move through the world.

I make large scale transdisciplinary installations to process my experiences and highlight historical instances of injustice. These include textiles, such as weaving or papermaking, usually supported by a rigid structural component made of wood, metal, or glass. My work is a haven for me to explore and understand the nuances of my identity. Building space for my audience and students to consider their own bodily autonomy is central to my work and commitment to craft education.

Lars Shimabukuro (b. 1991, Honolulu, Hawai’i) is a biracial and trans artist whose work expands ideas of homelands, family, and memory to include the queer landscapes that raised them. They earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from Yale University in 2013, an Associate Degree from Haywood Community College (NC) focusing on weaving in 2019, and completed the Core Fellowship program at the Penland School of Craft in 2023. Lars has shown nationally and internationally, and teaches weaving at craft schools. He is currently pursuing a Design Studies MFA at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Human Ecology in Madison, on unceded Ho-Chunk land.