COURTESY STATE FOUNDATION ON CULTURE AND THE ARTS Dean Oshiro's 1995 c-print photograph "Twilight" is one of the pieces included in "He Alo A He Alo: Face to Face, Visions & Portraits of Hawaii," an exhibit of works from the Art in Public Places Collection at the State Foundation of Culture and the Arts. The show is ongoing at the Hawaii State Art Museum's Ewa Gallery.

Who we are

The Hawaii State Art Museum exhibits a collection of portraits

The staff at the Hawaii State Art Museum waded through more than 5,000 works of art from the state's Art in Public Places Collection to present its latest rotational show, "He Alo A He Alo: Face to Face, Visions & Portraits of Hawaii."

The pieces, some of which haven't been viewed in decades (the collection began in 1967), "create a community narrative," says Peter Britos, curator of the exhibit.

Works including paintings, sculpture, prints and photography present portraits of people both illustrious and common to demonstrate who we are as a community.

A good part of the exhibit's story is told on the artwork labels, which often relay the relationship between the artists and subjects.

"The 'face-to-face' theme comes from an idiomatic Hawaiian saying that means 'It's all about communion with others,'" Britos says. "And that includes the viewer, too."

The audience's own connections to the art and "the trajectories that result are a fascinating thing," he says.

"He Alo A He Alo" is an ongoing show at the museum's Ewa Gallery. The museum is at 250 S. Hotel St. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays. Call 586-0900.

COURTESY STATE FOUNDATION ON CULTURE AND THE ARTS "Jody and Brutus" is an oil on canvas by Sarah Wymer from 2005.

COURTESY STATE FOUNDATION ON CULTURE AND THE ARTS Sally French's pastel and acrylic on canvas "Melanie Series: The Evening Swim," from 1990.

COURTESY STATE FOUNDATION ON CULTURE AND THE ARTS "Youngish Women of a Different Sort," by Laura Smith, is a 1988 serigraph print.

COURTESY STATE FOUNDATION ON CULTURE AND THE ARTS Eun-Mi Cho's silicon sculpture "Rubber Shoes Family" is a work from 2002.