Eric Franke

ARTIST'S STATEMENT:

We sprung into being to find a landscape of intense expressions

Voice of blue

Voice of brown

Voice of red

Voice of yellow

Voice of green

Voice of orange

Voice of purple

Voice of black

Voice of white

We were brought into life in an environment of grand language and grand music

Confident consonants refereeing the softest of vowels

Swirling clouds and foam playing in the valleys of blue infinity

Riding the currents of poetry

We came forth into a complicated fabric of joy and sorrow; pain and elation; the very beginning and the very end.

We can never know true certainty, past or present, then or now, no matter how hard we pretend.

We can only know now

Know now.

Eric Franke is a prolific Hawaiʻi Island-born artist, known for his stark photography of Hawaiian landscapes, as well as his emotive portraiture. Able to find something magical in seemingly mundane moments, his style combines muted but rich tones in isolated compositions, often leaving space for the viewer to exist with, and in, his scenes. His style draws upon his experiences growing up in Hawaii, and his love for beauty, adventure, mystery, discovery, and story. He gathers some of his inspirations from artist kūpuna: Herb Kawainui Kāne, IZ, Harry Wishard, Brook Kapukuniahi Parker, Jake Shimabukuro, Kelly Boy Delima, Troy Fernandez, among many, many others.