Mural Size: Small Section: 5 ft wide x 3.5 ft tall. Floor to Ceiling Section: 5.5 ft wide x 11 ft tall.
This indoor mural provided some unique challenges that made for an incredible experience. The restaurant was in full swing so I had to navigate around customers as I worked through the painting process. Luckily, I’m pretty conservative with paint so dripping was kept to a minimum and I didn’t have to worry much about painting above customers that walked below me. Also, having a live audience was definitely something I wasn’t used to but I quickly learned how supportive people can be and how much they enjoyed watching an artist work.
The client and I worked through a fish theme with a focus on ahi tuna to highlight the main dish. I wanted to make use of the unique wall space and keep eyes to flowing in a specific direction, from bottom right, then up and to the left. Tuna are extremely fast fish and I wanted them to feel like they were flying through the water. I used the ahi shape to incorporate 3 elements of the company logo: the shark teeth, the bird, and the poke cubes. Poke comes from the belly of the ahi tuna, so the placement of the cubes was intentional.
A BIT ABOUT THE ELEMENTS.
Each piece I’ve worked on has symbols and patterns drawn from cultural themes. For this mural, the client and I looked to the Polynesian culture (which includes many different island cultures like Maori, Hawaiian, and Samoan) to find inspiration. Click the tabs to see what I learned!
-
Hawaiians say “niho mano”. Maori say “niho mako”. Typically represented by black triangles, shark teeth symbolize strength and protection. The black triangles can be patterned in chains or grouped to form different shapes like the sun.
-
Hawaiians say “kapua’i” and Somoans say “fa’avaetuli”. In this mural, the chevron shape ( ^ ) represents bird and symbolizes our ancestors and community.
Sam Choy’s Poke to the Max logo.
Example of using elements of the logo (to the left) in the mural design.
Close up of the section above the hallway.
