SEEN: Faces of Puna Makai

Story & Photos By Dawn Hurwitz

Kristen McCormak is a name you are going to want to keep on your watchlist. She is part of the team organizing The Red Road Resilience Network. They have become a galvanizing force in lower Puna, gained their 501(c)(3) status about six months ago, and have already received grants for their projects. “SEEN: Faces of Puna Makai” at S.P.A.C.E.  was her brainchild and an outreach program designed to bring more people together in Puna. It also coincided with Lynne Tuft, the artist’s, 80th birthday. Red Road Resilience Network presented the exhibit through its Connecting Community & Building Capacity outreach project, funded by the County of Hawaiʻi Kīlauea Disaster Recovery Grant Program and Vibrant Hawaii.

Kristen befriended Lynne Tuft some years ago and watched her “remain curious, wrestle honestly with her work, surprise herself, and keep returning” to her work. She also states,  “Those of us who had the gift of Lynne’s friendship know how her heart and her genuine curiosity about who you are- and how you become who you are- set her apart. Even the strangers Lynne has yet to meet have been regarded with tenderness. What a wonderful place from which to meet one another: Lynne’s way of seeing.” Lynne related that Kristen is like a hanai daughter to her, knowing exactly how to organize what Lynne would want. This was how the event was born, and why the Red Road Resilience Network believes a gathering like SEEN matters.

Approaching the “S.P.A.C.E.” parking lot, I noticed it was full, and an attendant squeezed me into one of the last available spots. More people attended this event than I can remember for a one-time, one-artist show. It was the first time S.P.A.C.E.  showcased an art exhibition. A sun-filled day in Seaview Kalapana Estates drew a curious crowd to Lynne Tuft’s exhibit, “SEEN: Faces of Puna Makai.” I was told most were folks who rarely attend these sorts of events. I bumped into people I hadn’t seen in ages. A mature crowd, with few under 5 feet tall. People wore their liveliest colorful Puna Style, with no mud on their shoes, and big smiles on their faces.

The huge attendance was because it showcased portraits Lynne had painted of 150 Puna residents. S.P.A.C.E.  had been transformed into a tropical open-air art gallery for the afternoon, with long black swathes of fabric strung up between its ohia posts as a vivid backdrop for her small portraits. A Pule and hula were provided by Hālau Naleiali’i o Mokuhulu with Kumu Leialoha Ilae-Kaleimamahu. Three tables were laden with scrumptious-looking puu puu also provided by the outreach program from the disaster grant. Chef D. Babbits and Ron McCormick (Kristen’s Dad) created a beautiful layout, with help from Hanz Heinz, Jillian Hurne, and Luna Alexander. The event also featured a magnetic board where people could take cut out magnetic portrait parts and create their own, adding an interactive element.

Most remarkable was that Lynne painted all the portraits from photos of people she had never met. She started the project painting friends and family, and then it expanded to photos of area residents- from elders and children to performers, musicians, and just everyday folk. Lynne’s friends suddenly multiplied, including their friends and family, who were also curious to see the show. Perhaps fifty percent of her subjects and their families came to meet her and witness their renderings. Attendees gathered around the portraits, fascinated and smiling if one was of them. Many lined up to speak with Lynne, show their appreciation, and wish her well on her birthday. We all shared a joyful buzz in the air; some even remarked it was like a New York Art opening. 

Tuft is an 8-year resident artist originally from Chicago who spent more than 60 years creating and teaching art. She attended art school but never felt adept at portraits, so steered away and did what her teachers told her to do: just do her thing. Her main artistic expression had been large abstract works. Portraits were considered graphic or commercial art; she had no interest in that, so kept painting abstractly. 

After moving to Hawaii and joining an art group, she met another artist like her but with much less training, who could make portraits. It made her wonder, ‘Why can’t I?’ She then decided to figure it out with ChatGPT’s help. She asked it how she could improve her work. Making art where she could sit down was key, as she ails from post-polio syndrome. She feels as moved to make art as much as to breathe. She worked daily and received feedback from the program, along with its keen instruction. She’d never received this in art school. She learned to use shape to form her subjects and eliminate using lines.The disappearing edges created a softness and aliveness to her watercolors. 

Lynne has an eye for capturing the emotions of her subjects, seeking out joy with curiosity, and focusing on the innate beauty in each person. By knowing them only through a photo allowed her to idealize them.  She found that her renderings gave comfort to those who missed their people, joy to those surprised by the reflection, and amazement to those who had never seen themselves in that way before. 

I asked her, where do you go from here?  “That’s my question for myself, jokingly. I did the last portrait last week, and I just trust that I will know. I thought I was going to take a break for a year or two before I even thought about it.” A friend sent her a photo of her 101-year-old mother. She was the epitome of a Jewish queen, wearing blues and purple, everything glittered, including a cane like a scepter. It was so amazing and hit so deep in her soul and could relate to that element in herself, a great photo to work from. ”I had never done a portrait of anyone that old, and so Jewish. So clearly I’m not done with them and still have a few portraits,” she added.

Her portraits have been so well received by people, bringing her immense joy, especially the ones of people no longer here. Lynne spoke of gifting those portraits to their families. “ There was something about grieving, doing a portrait, like it just ran right through you, and it was the best one I had done yet, so there’s something about that connection that happened.”

Some new insights have also inspired her, “I think what I’m going to be doing is, I want to learn to use the principles that I learned in portraiture; they’re the same as working on abstractions and surrealism. I want to go back to what I used to do, but with the knowledge of what I have now. So superimpose that together with what I did. I did one I was moved by. It was like Oh my God, this is a whole new level and I told the AI, “It’s like I never knew what to do and how to do it.” A great example of how AI can be used as a tool in the proper circumstances. And amazing for a woman celebrating her 80th year around the sun to accomplish!