Student artwork work shines at Kapiʻolani CC’s Koa Gallery

“There’s something really special about the darkroom,” mentioned Kapiʻolani Community College English literature main Geneva Mellison. “No phones, no distractions. It creates this intimate environment where students can connect, create and encourage each other.”

Mellison’s images was featured within the Kapiʻolani CC Student Show 2026. The exhibition, held from April 29 to May 8 on the Koa Gallery, showcased works from introductory and intermediate studio artwork and new media artwork college students. It emphasised college students’ dedication to materials processes and modern creative exploration throughout mediums comparable to ceramics, drawing, portray, images and sculpture.

Her exhibition piece, My Perfect Mask, 2025, was a sequence of gelatin silver prints created in a images course. It explored “masking,” or the suppression of 1’s true character to adapt to social expectations. Her ardour for the medium began younger.

“Photography is the love of my life,” Mellison mentioned. “I was gifted a camera when I was seven, and I carry one around with me wherever I go. These projects have been on my mind constantly, and I think the flow of creativity happened in my life, too. I just walk around and think, ‘Oh, that would make a great picture.’”

Exhibition expertise

Koa Gallery Director Brandon Ng mentioned the present supplied very important expertise, inviting college students to get a style for what it’s wish to exhibit their work in a gallery.

Ng mentioned, “The result was a showcase of work that emphasized the students’ commitment to learning their craft, while catalyzing art as a vital tool for them to engage with the world.”

He hopes to proceed increasing alternatives for artists by way of the Koa Gallery, whereas creating exhibitions that invite deeper group engagement and inventive exploration throughout disciplines.

“We want the gallery to be a place that inspires students and visitors to view art as a lifelong companion,” Ng mentioned. “This exhibition served as a meaningful touchstone for art and education and one that will build on Koa Gallery’s goal of being a critical space for art that enriches and complicates the essential conversations central to Hawaiʻi and its people.”