Kīlauea Eruption Paintings by Leilehua Yuen

Growing up on a volcanic island, one is constantly reminded of the power and beauty of creation. Growing up in a family of artists on a volcanic island gave Leilehua Yuen the opportunity to express her relationship to the island through a variety of media, whether using words, dance, metal, or paint, she strives to share her experience of this unique and ever-changing land.

To see the paintings in person, swing by And Pieces and say “Aloha!” to Troy! 852 Kilauea Avenue , Hilo, HI, United States, Hawaii, across the street from Just Cruisin’ Coffee.

Located in one of Hilo’s classic buildings, And Pieces is where you will find items you didn’t know you needed. Filled with memories of hanging out in your Tūtū-lady’s kitchen and your Tūtū-man’s garage, Troy has the stuff and the stories to go with them. Everything from first edition antique Guardianware to Kulani-style koa and monkeypod vintage furniture is there.

To enter the gallery with the paintings, you will need to go through the store with all its amazing vintage and antique pieces.

Once in, you can get a close look at Leilehua Yuen’s original artwork: acrylic paintings, copperwork, and traditional Hawaiian implements. You also will find giclées of her father’s pieces, and a few select pieces by other artists.

Leilehua studied under both of her parents, Native Hawaiian artist Donald Yuen, and her mother Geraldine Duncann, and studied under Linus Chao while at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. She studied traditional Hawaiian arts during her time as a Hawaiian Cultural Interpreter at Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park in South Kona on Hawaiʻi.

She studied draftsmanship, metalwork, carving, design, and painting under her father. She studied ceramics, and fabric and clothing design under her mother, and she studied Xieyi painting with Linus Chao.

See some of her watercolors here.

To learn more about Leilehua’s metalwork, and the family business creating functional pieces and sculptural lighting, visit LeiManu.com.

This current eruption makes about ten on Hawaiʻi during Leilehua’s lifetime. The 1983 Puʻuʻōʻō Eruption lasted 35 years, during which two other eruptions also took place. This land is continuously changing and reforming itself, just like the rest of the earth, but on a much more rapid and intimate scale. Art helps us to see ourselves within the context of these changes.

While Pele is the akua or elemental most commonly thought of in connection with the Hawaiian volcanos, we also remember ʻAilāʻau, that older akua of the volcano who was supplanted by her.

Much knowledge attained from direct observation by our Hawaiian ancestors is encoded in legend and chant, but it takes long study and deep knowledge of the culture to understand it. In the 1970s, Robin Holcomb was one of the first to include Hawaiian knowledge base in western academic reporting as anything other than a quaint and “primitive” subject to be studied and shelved.

Both William D. Westervelt’s Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes, published in 1916 and Kua loloa, published by Nathaniel Emerson in Pele and Hiiaka, A Myth From Hawaii, give tantalizing hints of this older tradition. Perhaps as the old Hawaiian language newspapers are digitized and made more widely available, more knowledge of ʻAilāʻau will be revealed.

One of the fascinations of the volcano is that no matter how many eruptions there are, none are the same. They are constantly changing. Every phase is different. Sometimes the sky glows as the fiery dance illuminates the clouds.

Other times the gasses and vapor form clouds which, themselves, are part of the fiery dance.

The spring 2025 eruption has produced some of the highest fountaining ever seen on Hawaiʻi. Learn more about this amazing eruption at the USGS Kīlauea website.

Sometimes the lava leaps high into the sky, sharply delineated against the black. And sometimes the lava plays against the subtle hues of sunset as a solitary owl glides past.

Come visit again to see more of Leilehua’s artwork, pieces are uploaded as they are painted and photographed. For information on buying pieces, e-mail Leilehua:

art (at) kaahelehawaii (dot) com.

Kala mai (apologies) for making you type it in, but, bots.