Kahilu Galleries exhibiting ‘The Artifacts of Belonging: Myth, Memory and the Human Story’

A solo exhibition, “The Artifacts of Belonging: Myth, Memory and the Human Story” by Heidi Buscher, opens later this month at Kahilu Galleries.

The exhibit will be available for viewing Thursday through April 10 in the Simperman and Hamakua Galleries of the Kahilu Theatre in Waimea. The exhibit features a series of new, mixed-media paintings on canvas. A live, virtual opening reception and gallery walk-through with the artist will be held on Kahilu TV from 5:30 to 6 p.m. on Thursday. Buscher will also lead in-person gallery tours for groups of 10 or less on dates yet to be determined.

The exhibit conveys a sense of spirituality, humanity and our connection to the people who came before us and the places we call home. The artist sources early contact imagery and Hawaiian mythology, exploring these themes through a balance of abstract mark-making and portraiture. While Hawaii mythology anchors the work, Buscher gathers thousands of source materials: patterns, fabrics, archival texts, handwritten letters and early Hawaiiana imagery as visual threads that inspire, layer and fold into her art-making process.

The installation examines the complex questions of belonging, of the connection between mythology, religion and the land, of conflict over sacred ground, and of how we lament, protect and express profound love for these places — whether we are descended from Hawaii’s ancient ancestors, or more recently arrived.

The work does not provide answers to these questions but invites a deep, inner questioning of what it means to belong. It attempts to convey a sense of reverence and pain for what is lost, yet also celebrates what remains.

“Our humanity is inextricably linked to the people and sacred places that came before us,” said Buscher. “How can we humans be here, and love as hard as we love, and then just be gone? What remains? The stories and myths shared across time and civilizations.”

Buscher, the Fine Arts Department chairperson at Parker School, received a master’s degree in fine arts in ceramics from San Francisco University in 2001, and has worked in ceramic sculpture, bronze sculpture, acrylic painting and pottery. She is a fourth generation kama’aina raised in Waimea, where she resides with her husband and children.

The Kahilu Galleries are free and open to the public for gallery viewing from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 67-1186 Lindsey Road.