Latalata, ʻae mamao | Kokoke, akā mamao (Near, yet far)

Jon Apisa. Latalata, ʻae mamao | Kokoke, akā mamao (Near, yet far). 2025. gouache on paper, 5" x 3.5" (12.7cm x 8.89cm).

Artist Notes:

Līhuʻe, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi October 4, 2025

“Latalata, ʻae mamao | Kokoke, akā mamao” (Near, yet far) gouache painting was based on the idea and comparison of distance experienced rather than a just direct representation.

This gouache painting shows the optical double star Alpha 1 Capricorni and Alpha 2 Capricorni (Algedi) to convey the idea of how things may seem near to each other and yet there is a great distance between them.

- Jon Apisa

I chose to title the artwork “Latalata, ʻae mamao | Kokoke, akā mamao” (Near, yet far) in Gagana Sāmoa (Sāmoan language) and ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiʻian language).

I choose to title artwork in both languages because of my Sāmoan family heritage, also because I was raised in Hawaiʻi and lived in Hawaiʻi when I created the artwork.

Latalata, ʻae mamao | Kokoke, akā mamao (Near, yet far). 2025. gouache on paper, 5" x 3.5" (12.7cm x 8.89cm).

“Near” is: