Nanea Lum is a Native Hawaiian artist born in Kahalu‘u, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, and based in Honolulu. Her art practice interrelates kapa (Hawaiian barkcloth) making with large-scale paintings, printmaking, drawing, and time-based media. Lum connects different traditions, materials, and perspectives through her interdisciplinary practice. Her kapa is produced from wauke (paper mulberry) — plant material that she harvests, beats, works by hand, and dyes with inks comprising homemade charcoal, earth pigments, and plants. Her recent paintings explore the intersections of land, sky, and sea through concepts and stories of creation, and they chronicle place-based, material collaborations between the artist and ‘āina over time.

Lum is an MFA graduate of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Her areas of specialization include painting and contemporary art making by applying methods of place-based learning and indigenous knowledge. Lum works together with community organizations in Hawai‘i to produce projects and grow networks based on Native Hawaiian culture.

Lum’s recent solo shows include Ho‘i Hou (2023), Koa Gallery, Kapi‘olani Community College, Honolulu, and Eia Ke Kumu (2021), Commons Gallery, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu. She was the Single Double artist-in-residence (2021–22) in Nu‘uanu Chinatown and published Hele a Ho‘i (2023: Tropic Editions), covering her art practice between 2018–2023.