Dane Hiʻipoi Nakama (b. 1999, Honolulu, Hawai‘i) is a Japanese-Uchinanchu ceramicist, painter, and educator whose work bridges local aesthetics, folklore, and decolonial critique. Raised on O‘ahu and currently based on Tongva land, Nakama’s interdisciplinary practice is both highly referential and disarmingly tender—addressing settler colonialism, ancestral memory, and island identity through a visual lexicon that includes AstroTurf, li hing mui, jalousie windows, sand, seashells and clay geckos. Nakama has exhibited across Hawai‘i and the US continent, and is also the co-founder of the small arts school and ceramic studio known as fishschool Hawai‘i. They received their BFA from the California Institute of the Arts and an MFA in ceramics from UCLA.
Featured Exhibition
E Hele Mai: Grounded Elsewhere, Rooted Here
August 12 - October 1, 2026 | IVC Art Gallery