Anemoia

2025

8” x 7” x 7”

3D Pachycephalosaurus, Enamel, Acrylic Paint

Anemoia is a word for the feeling of nostalgia for a place or a time you’ve never experienced.

I have always had a little bit of longing for times I never lived in.

Growing up in Hawai`i, I saw the development of the land as a depressing thing. I was old enough to remember when the mountains didn’t have any little white houses on them, or when there were still big areas of forest where one could get comfortably lost. Some places I grew up around are unrecognizable, and because of the cost of living I may never be able to return to live there. I grew up imagining what it was like before statehood, before annexation, before western contact, before masses of people moved to the islands and spread like a suburban mold along the feet of lush green mountains.

As I grew older, I became aware that the world I grew up in no longer existed. I spent much of my 20s trying to find and build a new home where I was. Trying to get comfortable living in a world I was deeply uncomfortable in, knowing that the only thing that stayed close to the same back home was my family.

In Alaska I found the seeds of the community I had been looking for. I felt I had found a place where I was useful and accepted.

In this piece, I explored a nostalgia for a time even before real grass or modern trees. Marigolds, Dogwood, Ferns, and Cycads were dominant during the life of the Pachycephalosaurus. To imagine a world where even the plant life was simpler was an interesting mental vacation. This is a type of dinosaur found in Alaska and the arctic circle, along with Hadrosaurs, Nanuqsaurus, and Pachyrhinosaurus.