Growing up in Kahaluu, Sean Yoro said he had a typical country-style childhood surfing and aspiring to be a lifeguard, finding “ways to be in the water as much as I could.”
He found his success on the water, though not exactly as planned.
Known by his street name, Hula, Yoro’s become known globally for his portraits of women over waterways, as well as for speaking out on climate change, having seen its effects firsthand while painting on icebergs from Canada to Iceland.
His first painting on ice, “A‘o ‘Ana,” meaning “The Warning,” was created last year to wave a red flag on the global problem as warm temperatures melt icebergs and raise ocean levels, endangering island communities. Islands most at risk of slipping below sea level are Kiribati, the Maldives, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu.
“A‘o ‘Ana” disappeared with the iceberg in less than a week.
Yoro, 27, has more environmental works planned, but the artist, who found fame in New York and who recently moved to Los Angeles for work and warmer weather, has been back home for two weeks. In that time he created a mural for Saks Fifth Avenue in Waikiki and a portrait of the late surfing great Andy Irons on water during the Billabong Pipe Masters competition, continuing through Tuesday, at Banzai Pipeline.
At Saks, Yoro met with art students from Sacred Hearts Academy last week, sharing his techniques and the story of how a surfer from Hawaii — now regularly courted by such companies as The North Face and Facebook — found acclaim starting with little more than the determination to be an artist.
CHASING HIS DREAM
For Yoro, school was drudgery until one day, at 21, he walked into a life-drawing class at Windward Community College and fell in love with bringing life to paper. His only experience with art had been tagging walls with graffiti artist friends, and he said he enjoyed the interactive, provocative nature of the art form.
In drawing class, dreams of becoming a lifeguard vanished. He had found a new calling and wanted to make it on his own merit.
“I decided that if I was going to make it — truly make it and not get ahead just because I know someone — I had to go to the farthest place I could to test myself.”
The next year, in summer 2011, Yoro moved to Brooklyn with $800 in his wallet that “ran out fast.” He was able to find a 10-square-foot office space to rent for $250 a month. It was not meant to be a place to live, so Yoro showered at a gym, slept on the floor and set himself to the task of painting.
Inspired by Swedish psychologist K. Anders Ericsson’s belief in deliberate practice and journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell’s idea that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to perfect any skill, Yoro set a goal of painting for 10,000 hours, in between starving-artist restaurant jobs.
He spent four to five months learning to paint by reading blogs and watching YouTube videos. Looking back, Yoro saw he had taken quite a leap of faith.
“My instructors (at Windward Community College) were amazing to make me think I had talent,” he said. “I couldn’t even draw a box correctly. I knew that it would be a struggle, but I thought that if I didn’t go then, I would never go.”
What kept him moving forward was sheer stubbornness and the refusal to return home without proving himself.
After five months Yoro felt he was closing in on 6,000 hours of painting and making progress. He had an epiphany while participating in an underwater photo shoot and started wondering how he might be able to merge his three passions: water, painting and graffiti.
In the meantime New York’s lack of surf had led him to find another way of getting on water. He took to paddleboarding, which became an excellent floating platform for his gear. Yoro found refuge in abandoned waterways and docks, and under bridges where he could work without being discovered. He started on walls so remote, he said, “I doubt that anyone stumbled upon them by accident.”
What he painted were women partially submerged, only their faces and part of their torsos rising above the waterline, lending a sense of mystery to the work.
“They have a mermaid feel to them, although that’s not what I intended,” Yoro said. “I thought of them bringing life into these abandoned, deserted places. I also tried painting men, but it didn’t have the same feel.
“It involved a lot of trial and error, a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but once I got started, being on the water felt natural and that reassured me.”
He photographed his works, and when he launched a website of his portfolio on a Wednesday night, CNN came calling on Friday, turning the artist known as Hula into an overnight sensation. He said he had chosen the name because of the shared story of graffiti and the Hawaiian dance, art forms viewed as illicit at moments in time until championed by people who recognized their poetry.
NO REGRETS, NO RULES
Earlier this fall Yoro returned to ice again, this time heading to Baffin Island, in Nunavut, Canada, with a film crew for The North Face, known for its outdoor gear and activewear, to raise awareness of the plight of Inuit people whose lives are at risk due to climate change. Using nontoxic paints and a process he developed of painting on vinyl that can be removed from the environment after projects are complete, Yoro attempted to paint a portrait of an Inuit woman on a flat sheet of ice that could be viewed from the sky.
The mission failed when the ice melted too quickly and broke apart.
“We had to hop off and get away quickly,” he said.
But he has no regrets. “I’d rather fail going forward than stay in a box. I like challenging myself,” Yoro said.
“Next year will be a year of branching out. I try not to get too comfortable, and I’m willing to explore different perspectives and go further down the rabbit hole.
“I’m so grateful to be from Hawaii, where we’re taught to take care of the land, and I want to work, not only on water, but with other aspects of nature that revolve around the issue of sustainability. I’m definitely in the place that I want to be and feel I’m on the right path.”
Speaking of his willingness to share his story with students, he said: “There’s a mentality on this little island that there are no opportunities, no growth, nothing to inspire. I’m honored to be an influencer here, not only to teach kids to dream big, but to tell them you don’t really need much to get started but a little bit of passion.
“In reality there are no rules. If you dedicate yourself to something, it’s just a matter of time before you find success.”
Sean Yoro’s mural at Saks Fifth Avenue in Waikiki can be viewed on the third-floor patio outside the Saks Fifth Avenue Club and International Lounge at International Market Place. More works are planned throughout the store.
