Maui artist Sidney Yee took advantage of an energetic period in his life to turn out what has become an impressive array of acrylic paintings in the exhibit "Driftwood: a metaphor," at Koa Art Gallery at Kapiolani Community College.

The 65-year-old Wailuku artist admits he’s not been in the best of health, but during an eight-month period that started in early 2011, "I felt really good about the energy I had then. I was in a unique place and I had so many creative impulses, so I worked very hard, and finished up with this group of paintings around this time last year."

"Driftwood" showcases abstract and dreamlike works that reflect Yee’s environmental and cultural concerns. In his artist’s statement, Yee says he uses the image of driftwood "as a metaphor for us in the later stages of our life when the element of time becomes most important; when reflection of the past and nostalgia are what we feel and communicate, and wisdom through much experience becomes an invaluable resource."

Yee’s own experience included teaching art at Lahainaluna High School and working in ceramics. During a sabbatical in 1995, he decided to switch to painting.

"While a lot of artists are versatile, few would venture from three-dimensional art to two dimensions like I did," Yee said. "When I was involved with ceramics, it was more in terms of the aesthetics of dealing with formal elements of design. With painting, it’s more of an exploration of feelings rather than ideas. I get to express ideas and thoughts about the environment and personal subjects."

One series of works that overtly explores environmental issues is "Na Wai Eha," a trio of paintings that convey the artist’s feelings about the current public trust water controversy on Maui.

"While I was putting together the exhibit, even though the driftwood series had a unified concept, I thought it needed something more. The ‘Na Wai Eha’ paintings complete the exhibit in a way by illustrating the variety of work I’ve been doing. My idea of water in this sense is as a source that turns on full blast, like gushing out of a fireman’s hose. It’s water as a natural resource and energy that’s converted in the name of progress."

TWO PAINTINGS in the show are particularly notable for Yee: the distinctly nostalgic "Yesterday and Today" and the forceful "Denial."

"I usually try to be neutral to any kind of personal references in my art, but in this particular case with ‘Yesterday and Today,’ I took a photograph of my childhood — that’s me with my brother and my cousin — that’s a reflection of nostalgia juxtaposed with the driftwood of my present state of mind. The whole painting has a kind of dreamlike state. The recollection is a little bit blurred. It almost doesn’t seem to be real, like it’s from another dimension."

"Denial" is a standout of the exhibit, a work predominantly red with what looks like a representation of a deer-like creature.

"It does represent a different feeling. As I was painting this series of work, with ‘Denial’ in particular, I was trying to become more gestural and spontaneous, an exploration of the painted surface. The idea almost becomes secondary to the expression of the flow of paint. It lacks representational details and is more stylized.

"I was trying to release myself from any creative constraints to create an image that was more of a spiritual expression," he said.

Yee considers "Driftwood" a representation of his art and life at a crossroads.

"I have to deal with the fact that I’m getting on in years, and I want to make the most of the days that I have left remaining. I want to do something that is meaningful," he said. "I’m expressing the idea of driftwood as a material that’s gone through a lot of transformation and changes, but still has a sense of vitality and a life force that is uniquely its own."