gen2gen

gen2gen brings together Yvonne Cheng, Shannon Kerner, and Hana Pua McEvilly in an exhibition that explores artistic lineage as a living process, shaped by dedicated mentorship and shared experience. At the heart of the exhibition are the relationships between three distinct practices. Through conversation, trust, and time spent creating and learning together, knowledge passes between generations, taking new form as it is absorbed and reimagined by younger artists.

At the center of the exhibition is Yvonne Cheng, whose lifelong career has been a celebration of the women of Hawaiʻi. Her practice, rooted in batik and evolved to painting, collage, and drawing, reflects a lifelong engagement with Oceanic visual traditions and the natural environment.

That legacy continues through artist Shannon Kerner, whose paintings grow from scientific observation, botanical research, and a deep attentiveness to Hawaiʻi's landscapes. Working under Cheng's mentorship, Kerner extends those conversations into new visual territory, where ecology, imagination, and memory intersect.

Hana Pua McEvilly extends the lineage further through her use of batik on kapa she has pounded and created herself. In merging these practices, her work suggests that lineage is not about preserving the past unchanged, but about carrying ideas forward and allowing them to evolve through new voices, relationships, and contexts.

gen2gen invites viewers into an unfolding conversation, generation to generation, with each artist a link in that chain.

*CROSSCURRENTS is a on-going exhibition series connecting Pacific connected artists, ideas, and communities through evolving salons, exhibitions, and collaborative projects—each shaped by local stories, shared exchange, and the unique conditions of place.

Join us for the opening reception this Friday, July 24th from 5 - 8:30pm

kaiao space

1018 smith st