KAILUA-KONA — Big Island artist Katana Leigh and performer Ren Lunicke like to bring out the best in the world around them.
Leigh’s Kona-based business, Paint in Hawaii, offers her a way to teach her creative skills to others and discover the hidden talent of the island’s residents and visitors. Leigh also wants to bring outside talent to Hawaii, which is where Lunicke comes in. More than business and creative partners, the two can also give themselves a deeper label — friends.
“This person knows my soul,” Leigh said of Lunicke. “So when they’re coming out with a whole comedy show that their very talented self has created, I’m like, this is my chance to see their soul in the funniest, most brilliant way possible.”
Leigh invited Lunicke to Kailua-Kona last week to premiere the one-person shows “Ze” and “Blood Relative” in Hawaii. Sponsored by Leigh’s Paint in Hawaii, the shows chronicle Lunicke’s life as trans non-binary and are already a success in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Lunicke and Leigh eventually want to spread the shows around the islands as a way for LGBTQ residents to have an outlet for understanding and laughter. With two successful shows now completed in Kona, Lunicke is looking to inspire even more people around Hawaii.
“I think a lot of people are hungry for stories about this thing they’ve heard about in the news, like transgender and non-binary, but they’re not sure what to think about it,” Lunicke said. “And I’m sure some people have a bit of a giggle outside the scene, but then I give them permission to have a laugh with me in a context that I’m empowered in, and I think that can be a really positive thing.”
The show “Ze,” named after early gender-neutral pronouns, is a comedy that tells of Lunicke’s life journey as trans non-binary and “Blood Relative” is a more dramatic performance about their family relationships.
“As an artist, I realized that I so badly wanted to see a show that represented someone like me, but as far as I knew, it didn’t exist,” Lunicke said. “And once you realize that your life actually does have that story in it and you’re already an artist and you already write and perform, there’s an obvious responsibility there that you can take or not. And I chose to be really brave at the time and to take it.”
Leigh and Lunicke have been friends for 13 years, since they attended university together in Canada. Leigh’s art has become a small part of Lunicke’s performances in Hawaii, where she creates art for the show and sells her paintings before and after performances. They hope bringing the shows to the Big Island first will allow both Lunicke’s reach in the LGBTQ community and Leigh’s art and business to grow.
“It’s a way that we can collaborate. And when you’re friends with really great people and really great artists, this is the history of arts in the world,” Lunicke said. “When you think of anytime there was a collection of great artists, they met each other as friends and collaborators and then they influenced each other and built each other up over time.”
Leigh has lived in Kona for two years, but like Lunicke, she has also found success on the U.S. mainland and beyond. Her paintings hang in places such as California, Alaska, Canada and Costa Rica. She currently runs her Paint in Hawaii events out of Paradise Brewing Company on Alii Drive.
“I really love when people come to Paint in Hawaii events,” Leigh said. “They don’t get to see their friends that often and they can bring their friends together and make these beautiful memories that they’re going to take home and put on their walls. It will remind them when they took time out of their busy lives to just connect with people, and just discover something they can actually be proud of.”
Leigh’s place in the Kona art community played a big part in bringing Lunicke’s shows out to the islands for the first time, and the friends hope the aloha spirit Leigh has found in Hawaii carries over into the audience of Lunicke’s performances.
“The painting group has been a decent part of our reach in coming to Hawaii for the shows,” Lunicke said. “The community feeling that happens as a result of that spreads over to the community feeling that gets created from dialogue and discussion about diversity and difference and what we’re capable of having in our lives.”
Info: Ren Lunicke can be found at https://www.zirproductions.com. Katana Leigh can be found at www.paintinhawaii.com.