Oil Tanker Sunsets Hawai'i

In Oil Tanker Sunsets, I present oil barges anchored off the coast of Honolulu, Hawai‘i as both stereotypical sunset postcards and abstract explosions of light disrupting the ocean horizon. The images call into question the viewer’s expectation of what constitutes an iconic tropical sunset and paradoxically reveal oil ships delivering the energy sources needed to sustain life on an island. What is our relationship to Hawai‘i’s mythology as a pristine and unspoiled landscape? What lies beneath the surface beauty of a picturesque sunset postcard? What happens when the natural experiences of paradise become interrupted by built environments that mimic nature? When we look beyond the mirage of these “sunsets,” we uncover the islands’ dependence on oil delivery and the global maritime shipping industry. The documentation of tanker ships highlights a subject matter excluded from the tourism industry’s packaging of Hawai‘i yet emulates the ways in which paradise is sold and consumed. Oil Tanker Sunsets explore the complex boundaries between the built and natural world and the tenuous relationship between expectation and reality.