The art of Island Tiki

Ray Rogers is a Maui artist who strives to create art which has personality and invokes a positive emotion. His family has lived on Maui for over 20 years. As a young boy, he wore a tiki necklace and grew up in the surf and sand of Hermosa Beach. He recalls his magnetic attraction to early Tiki culture. 0nce on Maui, he was fascinated by the ancient Hawaiian traditional wood carvings of Tiki idols, and he reflected sadly on the fact that many beautiful ancient carvings have surely been lost through the years due to degradation and the elements. In contrast to wood, stone has lasting qualities of strength and durability. He was drawn to working with lava rock. He sees its inherent beauty , envisioning it as the life force of Mother Earth. 'Lava is the blood that flows through her veins.' The Hawaiian islands grew from the fire of boiling molten rock flowing from the center of the earth. Through the centuries, lava has continued to facilitate life on the Hawaiian islands. From this inspiration, he began carving lava-rock Tikis and developed his own technique of casting from his original carvings, such that each casting is unique to itself. Each piece is unlike any other. You will notice individual variations, such as different colors and 'pukas' (holes) so as to resemble actual hardened molten lava from hundreds of years ago. Ancient Hawaiians believed that a Tiki possesses special powers of Love, Strength, Health, Protection, and above all, plenty of Aloha.

Island Tiki - Slideshow