Lani - Hawaii 

Curator: Let’s explore “Lani - Hawaii,” an etching by John Melville Kelly. It depicts a young woman in a realistic style. My immediate impression is the almost dreamlike quality, given its soft lines and subtle shading. Editor: Yes, the etcher's craft is evident here, particularly if we consider the material realities of printmaking. Look at how the labor-intensive etching process creates this image—acid etching away lines on a metal plate, inking it, pressing it. The soft tonality arises from the careful control of acid and the pressure of the press, all to capture this individual’s likeness, mass producing it, as prints are designed to do. Curator: Absolutely, and consider the colonial gaze operating here. A non-Hawaiian artist depicting a native woman. How much agency does Lani truly have in this portrait? Does the title exoticize her? Editor: Those are crucial questions to bring up! The depiction of the nude further complicates things. How does the commodification of her image through print relate to broader systems of power? Was Lani compensated for this representation? What were the power dynamics at play during its making? We must not romanticize what could be the simple objectification. Curator: The flower adorning her hair might symbolize innocence or perhaps native beauty, a conventional visual shorthand used for indigenous women. Editor: Precisely. Such details mask the complex, lived experiences and histories of the woman depicted. Without deeper knowledge, the flower seems merely a superficial aesthetic touch but might speak to more intentional and sophisticated manipulations that the artwork performs for audiences beyond the Hawai'ian islands. Curator: Analyzing "Lani - Hawaii," demands a consideration of colonial representation, the artist’s technique, and, of course, an ongoing conversation about decolonization in art. Editor: Indeed. By situating this etching within broader narratives of cultural representation and labor, we invite critical engagement and push the discourse forward. It reminds us how art can both reflect and perpetuate the forces around gender, representation, and, crucially, modes of production.