The painting, an oil on canvas, reveals a stark, leafless branch representing the devastation of the rapid ohia death that has stricken forests on Hawaii island. Another, a mixed media print, explores self-identity and how natural beauty is interpreted. Another painting, titled “The Garden,” explores the shapes, patterns and layers of plants.

The “Aloha Ho‘omaluhia” exhibit, running May 2 to 29 at the Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden’s Visitor Center Gallery, celebrates its 32nd anniversary this year.

“It’s a celebration, but also an acknowledgment of the huge issues and challenges we face,” said Sarah Bremser, curator of the exhibit. “Pollution, industrialization, the economy — everything you can tie into it, especially since Hawaii has such a fragile ecosystem. Acknowledging the importance of taking care of it.”

The first exhibit, in 1984, was actually born out of efforts by a small group of artists responding to the beauty of the gardens at Ho‘omaluhia as well as the controversy over the construction of the H-3 highway. The five original artists were Noreen Naughton, John Wisnosky, Jonathan Busse, Michel Kaiser and Adella Islas.

Naughton, who curated the first exhibits, passed on the reins to Bremser. This year 16 artists were invited to celebrate the beauty of nature while addressing the fragility of Hawaii’s ecosystem.

“I leave it pretty open,” said Bremser. “It’s supposed to be in some way addressing nature, or humanity’s relationship to nature. One reason I love this exhibit is that different artists have different approaches to it. Some are more literal, some are more figurative and metaphorical. So there’s a wide variety and wide variety of media.”

Many are repeat artists, such as Jodi Endicott, participating for the second time this year.

Her painting, “The Garden,” was inspired by Ho‘omaluhia the first time she participated two years ago, exploring the layers of plants and different shapes. It inspired her, she said, to start a garden at her own home.

“After being in Ho‘omaluhia, I just started to pay attention more to gardens and the layers, how you create boundaries,” she said. “Just focusing on the shapes that I saw and how compelling they were to me.”

Endicott also plans to use Ho‘omaluhia’s outdoor setting for an installation, which she said will involve boars and gourds as a sort of interplay between native and invasive species. To see the final creation, one will have to visit. Last time, she wove a nest out of materials gathered from the botanical garden measuring about 7 feet in diameter. Afterward, she said, it went right back to nature.

Russell Sunabe, who has participated for at least 15 years, said he looks forward to the camaraderie with other artists at the show. Originally from Hakalau, a small community along the Big Island’s Hamakua coastline, he hopes to bring attention to rapid ohia death, “a disaster of epic proportions.”

“I just can’t imagine life without the ohia tree,” said Sunabe, who grew up with thriving forests.

His inspiration came from a broken piece of bare branch that he came across while walking on the Kapiolani Community College campus where he teaches. He took it back to his art studio, and it “slowly became the ohia branch.”

Another painting, “Still Mac,” pays tribute to his late father, a farmer, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Sunabe said he sees Ho‘omaluhia as a metaphor for various issues, which include development versus nature, the impact of invasive species and politics.

With “Returning the Ray to the Sun,” an oil on canvas, Carl Jennings plays with the myth of Prometheus, who in this case has become a feeble superhero with a small cape trying to undo the technology that has led to the destruction of humanity and nature, including chemical weapons. Many symbols are scattered throughout the painting.

Endicott’s works have a similar message.

“We need to get more in touch with nature,” she said. “With all the technology, this just reminds us who we are and what we’re about and how we’re part of a bigger world.”