Honolulu-based artist inspired by mother’s mysterious death

In photographs, multimedia sculpture and video inspired by the mysterious loss of her mother, who was killed when the artist was a young girl in Nigeria, Honolulu-based artist Nanci Amaka explores the concepts of love, loss, embodiment, and letting go — and the anxieties affiliated with those emotions and experiences.

This series of new works by Amaka is on display through April 27 in Kakaako, where Amaka is the latest artist in residence at the shared location of Box Jelly, a coworking site, and fishcake, a gallery and home furnishings store, 307a Kamani St.

The artist, who received a B.A. in Visual Critical Studies from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an M.F.A. from California College of the Arts, spent her youth in a rural rainforest village in southeastern Nigeria. More background on Amaka and her work is available at her website, nanciamaka.com.

The artist-in-residence program at the location provides studio space at Box Jelly, mentorship from fishcake’s gallery curators and interaction with the affiliated arts community. Find out more at theboxjelly.com, or call 769-6921.