Hiroki Morinoue

Morinoue was born in 1947,[1] in Kealakekua and raised near Holualoa, formerly a major coffee plantation town in the mountains above Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Japanese workers were imported from Japan at the turn of the 20th century to Hawaii to work the plantations.

It was Morinoue's seemingly abstract paintings of calm water on textured wood or woodblock prints that propelled him to prominence.

The play of light on pebbles at the bottom of a creek or pond, bubbles, ripples, or the reflection on the surface of water are combined with a Japanese sense of balance and design in intense shades of aqua, black and blue creating art of refined, serene elegance.

Subsequent works show a trend towards abstract art, experimentation in warmer palettes, rougher strokes, various subject matters and media such as ceramics and photography.