FLUX Hawaii

2 months ago | fluxhawaii.com | Matthew Dekneef

Despite being born and raised on the island of Oʻahu, there was a time when the word “aloha” seemed to leave a strange aftertaste on my tongue—unfamiliar and disingenuous. I once believed this discomfort stemmed from not being of Native Hawaiian descent, thinking that the language simply wasn’t meant for me. But looking back, I realize that my unease wasn’t about the word itself; rather, a reflection of how I had distanced myself from the culture and language of the place I call home.

Mar 21, 2025 | fluxhawaii.com | Christine Hitt

Images by Will Matsuda“I spent the early part of my life without electricity and plumbing. So I grew up with kerosene lamps at night and I’m used to that. That’s very much part of my comfort zone,” says Gaspar, who still has the kerosene lamp he grew up with. He moved to southwest Portland a decade ago and spends hours deep into the night writing alongside husband Kasey. In 2023, Gaspar published Ulu, a poetic memoir about his life growing up in the small village of Hōnaunau.

Mar 14, 2025 | fluxhawaii.com | Mitchell Kuga

Images by Michelle MishinaOur side will win because we have the love. The other side is the market, empire, capitalism, patriarchy, racism, and homophobia. It is not a club for lovers, and I know that on any given day half the students I am trying to teach law to are concerned primarily with their hearts. Will I find love, will it last, who will love me, does she love me, why doesn’t he love me anymore, if she loves me why do I feel so lonely, should I leave.

Mar 12, 2025 | fluxhawaii.com | Mitchell Kuga

Images by Brandyn Liu and Cole TurnerDespite the boldly unconventional motifs that run through the textiles designer Colleen Kimura’s work — from the bones of the humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa to a wilting torch ginger far past its prime — it’s her colors that hit you first: a dreamy periwinkle that fizzles against the shock of citron-yellow or a brown rust billowing across an earthy expanse of moss.

Feb 13, 2025 | fluxhawaii.com | Alexis Cheung

Images by Brandyn Liu and courtesy of Passionfruit “I’m wearing my ‘don’t look at me’ outfit,” laughs the stylist and consultant Ben Perreira. In a cavernous SoHo office, Perreira admits this after his business partner Taylor Okata, a fellow stylist and creative director, exclaims, “These are my errands clothes!” It’s a small thing, but how both dress is telling, revealing that when it comes to fashioning themselves and the world around them the two are always operating on the same wavelength.