The only way to properly present a retrospective of the works of late Italian-born Maui artist Piero Resta was to re-create his unique world within the walls of the Schaefer International Gallery of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

And so the space for “Piero Resta: Illuminatus” has been transformed into a likeness of the Italian-style villa he built in Kaupo on the remote backside of Haleakala.

The brick-lined archways welcome visitors into the gallery to view the life of the charismatic Resta through 40 years of drawing, painting and sculpting. His earlier works of rich colors that burst with passion, personality and love for people give way to reflection and transformation as he contemplates his impending mortality.

“Every moment becomes infinite in itself,” says Resta in a video that accompanies the show.

The exhibit was being planned when Resta learned he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2013. He continued to greet each day with possibilities, exploring the journey from this life to another, and was still painting with purpose until he died Sept. 8, 2015, at the age of 75.

Resta’s art has always been more than just a visual feast. He described himself as a type of cartographer, with his paintings as maps of the universe. Each canvas has layers of information and images that seem to change on different viewings, making them almost three-dimensional and interactive.

Perhaps the masterpiece of the exhibit is the aptly named “Epica,” a single 10-foot-tall canvas that stretches across 20 feet of gallery space. This is the first time the painting has been publicly exhibited. It had been rolled up and stored in Sausalito, Calif., since 2011, when Resta completed it. Schaefer Gallery Director Neida Bangerter learned about it and brought it back for display. It’s almost autobiographical in nature.

“All of Piero’s thoughts and knowledge are in that painting,” said Bangerter.

Resta gave names to his various periods of inspiration. So there are paintings from the “Garden of Dream Series,” the “Discoveries of Voyagers Series” and the “Pluvaie Vitum Ferunt (Rain Brings Light) Series.”

The last series, “Illuminatus,” covered the last two years of his life.

While “Epica” might be the focal point of the exhibit, the most poignant work is found in a separate corner of the gallery. “The Last Epic” was the piece Resta was creating in pastels when he died. About half the canvas is blank.

It hangs on the wall with a splattered dropcloth beneath, a small table holding the pastels and an unoccupied stool nearby.

“We wanted to give it the feeling that Piero has just stepped out of the room,” said Bangerter.