Painting from a paddleboard, Hawaiian artist Sean Yoro creates a 15×20 water mural exploring themes of indigenous guardianship of land and waters, the fragility of endangered species and the interconnectedness of all living beings. “Malalo” can be seen in progress June 7-12, 2022, and completed through June 17 outside from the Foss Waterway Seaport esplanade.
The design was created in consultation with elder Connie McCloud of the Puyallup Tribe, on whose lands the mural and festival rest. We are grateful to them for their welcome and ongoing protection of these waters.
Self-taught artist Sean Yoro broke into the street art world in 2015, when the release of his unique water murals became widely publicized. Growing up on the eastside of Oahu Sean spent most of his time surfing, until his late teens when he discovered his passion for art. Working under the alias ‘Hula’ he moved to New York to pursue his career. Influenced by his love of the ocean, Hula took to the water to create semi-submerged murals, while balancing on his stand up paddleboard.
Since then, Yoro has painted art immersed and interacting with our environment. From paintings on waterfalls and glaciers to free-diving painting on the sea floor, Yoro connects his materials and themes in breathtaking ways, illuminating the beauty of our world and how we are an intrinsic part of it.
