I illustrated this artwork on Procreate as a response to the current plans for building the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Mauna Kea. As a native Hawaiian, protecting Mauna Kea is very important to me because it represents not only an extremely sacred space, but also the tragic history of native Hawaiians fighting to protect their ʻaina (land) only for them to have their voices silenced every time. Kū Kiaʻi Mauna is a rallying call to stand in solitary with Mauna Kea and never give up.

The mountain in the artwork is actually a photo I took at Mauna Kea myself that I edited in Photoshop to get a more illustrative look. The color of the mountain was sampled to get the most authentic feel. The Hawaiian flag is flipped upside down to represent our nation is in distress.