Beneath The Surface

If things had been different, Kalani Ware — portrait painter, grip-tape artist and graphic designer extraordinaire — might’ve gone into business.

“Through high school, I never really thought about pursuing art,” Ware admits. “I was going to take business here at (UH) Manoa, but I was just tired of seeing people doing stuff they didn’t enjoy.

And then one thing led to another. He started learning graphic design, and from there decided it’d be pretty cool if he could revolutionize skateboard art, and that got him thinking he ought to teach himself how to paint.

“I never took a painting class,” Ware acknowledges. “I felt like they were going to teach me how to paint a certain way. Technique is something you learn, but style is something you develop yourself. So I developed my own style, and I developed my own technique — or I’m trying to.”

That DIY attitude is paying off for Ware, who will be exhibiting his paintings at The Manifest in Chinatown starting Dec. 13. But everything Ware does leads to something new, and he’s all about seeing where his art will take him next.

STAYING SURFACED

Ware, a California native, moved to Hawaii to attend University of Hawaii and reconnect with his Hawaiian roots. But in his design courses, he found himself thinking more about skateboard art instead of the computer screen. Most skateboarders utilize the space underneath the deck for painting, but Ware was more interested in the black grip tape on top.

“It’s about being surfaced in anything you do, on staying on top of your game,” he says of Gripptide, the moniker he uses for his skateboard art. “Without the grip tape, you fall off easily; you have nothing to hold you on top … Gripptide is just about staying surfaced, showing the connections that stretch around the world from Hawaii.”

He does a lot of geometric, rideable art, but he also likes to use the deck as a display canvas. So far, Ware’s made portraits of Bruno Mars, Paul Walker, Duke Kahanamoku and Eddie Aikau, among many others.

BRUSH TO CANVAS

As his boards became more elaborate, Ware decided to expand into painting. He experimented last summer with abstract portraits until he found a style that suited him.

“Ever since I got back into learning about my Hawaiian culture, I want to start creating people who are (culturally) conscious,” he says.

He’s been exploring that lately, with a series of paintings of women fused with pineapples, octopuses and mountains, emphasizing a Hawaiian symbiosis with the land.

“Whenever I hear the word ‘art,’ Kalani’s name pops up,” says Gabby Faaiuaso, Ware’s friend and current collaborator. “His art is cultural as well as indigenous. But when you look at it, it says ‘Kalani.’ It doesn’t say anything else; it’s really who he is.”

And in his upcoming art exhibition, the chameleonic Ware is looking to evoke a different mood. His exhibit will feature a series of portraits revolving around his time in college, with a lot of “frustration and organized chaos.”

Ware also is working with Faaiuaso to create a video record of his creative process for the exhibit.

“It’s an experimental piece,” Faaiuaso, a film student at UH, notes with a laugh. “That’s the best way to describe it.” Not quite a documentary, not quite a music video, Faaiuaso reaffirms, “it’s an art piece.”

CONNECTIONS

Though Ware may have given up on a business major, he’s still got the razor-sharp intuition of the most seasoned marketers.

It takes more than talent, after all, to make it as an artist.

“You can’t just live life every day thinking that the world is going to come to you. You gotta let people know you’re out there,” Ware says.

He spends a lot of time meeting new artists, emailing gallery owners, following and tagging his connections on Instagram, and interacting with people every chance he gets. Look at any of his recent Instagram photos, for instance, and you’ll notice he’s been hashtagging Lana Lane Studios and POW! WOW! Hawaii. It may not seem like much, but one day, when they’re looking for an artist to showcase, they might remember Ware.

He’s got big dreams for the future, hoping to turn Gripptide into a global brand and mentor others the way older artists have helped him.

“I definitely want to stay active in the community,” Ware says. “The ultimate success would be to hopefully have some sort of location — a studio or store — and work with a group of people who love doing the same thing I do.”

Faaiuaso has no doubt Ware will make that all happen.

“It’s one thing I admire about Kalani: He never stops. He keeps going. That’s all you really look for in a person and their art — that driving passion to capture what they want to capture.”

Follow Ware on Instagram @gripptide, or visit his websites kalaniware.com and gripptide. com to see more of his work. His paintings will be at The Manifest until February 2015.

FIT FOR A KING

PHOTO COURTESY KALANI WARE

One of Ware’s most striking works is a five-skateboard portrait series of the kings and queens of Hawaii.

“I noticed a lot of people would paint our monarchs, like Queen Liliuokalani and King Kalakaua, but I was wondering what it would be like if they saw it on a skateboard,” he notes. “I’m trying to show Hawaiian history in a contemporary setting, trying to get people thinking, showing history in a way that people can relate to — who may never have related to it before.”

Sorry, these pieces aren’t for sale right now: Ware wants to display them in a gallery or museum.

“I want people’s reactions, their manao, the ideas they get from it,” he says.