Why Kapa Cloth & What Is It

When I started this business I had an idea of what I wanted my art to signify and I created with that in mind. But there was always this pull in my gut that I continued to push away, and that was to incorporate more of my culture into my jewelry making. Up until now I've made a few pearl pieces and given them Hawaiian names, but that's as far as I went. I think on some level I wasn't sure how to make pieces that represent my Hawaiian roots without it resembling all the other beautiful, island inspired jewelry that is out there. 

And then one day I had a download that I needed to incorporate kapa cloth into my pieces. 

Before colonialism, kapa cloth was the original textile used throughout the Hawaiian islands. The cloth is created from the inner bark of the Wauke tree, also known as the Paper Mulberry tree. The bark is stripped, pounded using special tools and then fermented and pounded again until it is the desired length and thickness. From there the cloth is stamped and dyed using natural pigments. 

Like other Hawaiian traditions, kapa making was a lost art. 

In the 60's and 70's, native Hawaiians began to hear the call from their ancestors to reconnect with the past, and a resurgence of ancient Hawaiian practices began. Kapa cloth artists had to travel to South Pacific Islands, like Fiji, to learn their methods of making bark cloth as the practice had remained strong there. They brought their knowledge back to Hawaii with the a mission to revive ancient kapa making techniques. 

Over the decades the interest in kapa making has grown, but there are still only a few handfuls of makers who practice the art. One such artist is Dalani Tanahy, who lives on O'ahu. Dalani has spent decades honing her craft and is the maker of the cloth used in my jewelry. She can be seen in the video below showing the labor intensive process that it takes to create such beautiful pieces of kapa.

As I followed the idea of using kapa into fruition I realized that the very thing that I had been resisting was exactly what I was supposed to do all along. There is a quote by Maya Angelou that says, "you can't really know where you're going until you know where you have been." My art and my culture were always meant to be intertwined; a way for me to discover and explore where I came from. Moving forward my pieces will reflect this and my hope is that they will inspire you along your own inner journey.

aloha nui loa,

Erica