Melissa Chimera

Oil on canvas

58" h x 26" w

 

Oil, kozo paper and stitched photo transfer silk on linen

17" h x 17" w

 

Oil, kozo paper and stitched photo transfer silk on linen

17" h x 17" w

 

Oil on canvas in white frame
36" h x 48" w

"The Hawaiian poppy called pua kala (thorny flower) has sharp spines at the tips of the leaves.  It thrives in some of the most dry and desolate areas near sea level. Archibald Menzies, a visiting botanist in the 1800s, found a Hawaiian woman manipulating the flowers of this native poppy. And when he asked what she was doing, she informed him that by taking the `ehu, that is the dust, the pollen from one flower to another would increase the number of edible seeds.  This is a glimpse of the intimacy of the empirical science of the Hawaiians and their living landscape.” -- Dr. Sam Gon

Provided by Melissa Chimera

Oil on canvas in white frame
30" h x 48" w

Cyanea macrostegia is known formerly from Lāna`i but now found only on Maui.   Dark velvet purple-black curved flowers emerge from this rain forest tree.  The nectar of these unusual flowers and the orange berries are food for Hawaiian forest birds.  These palm-like trees with paddle-shaped leaves are evocative of a pre-historic jungle.  The species is now only found in a healthy and diverse rain-forest. Lobelioids are one of the most spectacular examples of island evolution in flowering plants with curved flowers matching the bill of their bird pollinators.  - Melissa Chimera

Oil on canvas in white frame
24" h x 36" w

There are perhaps as many as 300 species worldwide in the genus Hibiscus. However, ma`o hau hele (Hibiscus brackenridgei) is found only in Hawai`i and federally listed as an endangered species. According to botanist David Lorence, “Hibsicus brackenridgei has been adopted as the official state flower of Hawai`i.  Showy blooms of brilliant chrome yellow first catch the eye. [The species has] five delicately creped petals and a column of stamens tipped by five stigmas."  The plant was once found on all the main islands except Ni`ihau and Kaho`olawe, but is threatened by alien animals, fire and weeds. - Melissa Chimera