Wood
Keoni
New to Spring 2025!
Colorado Springs, CO
Booth 250
Featured Artist
Driven by a passion for Native Culture stories, legends and mythology, fine art carver, Keoni, re-imagines wood as woven, beaded and mosaic sculpture. Using sharpened steel, fire, inks and organic dyes, he creates story-driven artwork illusions entirely by-hand/freehand with Sugar Maple as his canvas.
World Artist, a 3X Smithsonian exhibitor, and a 2026 Michelangelo Foundation artist, Keoni is inspired by Native Culture storytelling, traditions and values, interpreted into a contemporary style. The artist is nationally recognized and was a 2019, 2022, 2023 CM Russell Museum artist multiple-time Buffalo Bill Museum exhibitor; and a six-time award winner at the Jackson WY Western Design Conference including Best of Show 2021/wood. The artist was a 2018 inductee into the “By Western Hands” artisans’ guild; and is regularly featured in Tier I national, juried art events at venues such as: the Philadelphia Art Museum Fine Craft Show, Architectural Digest Design show/NYC, SOFA-Chicago, and in cities such as Park City, Ft. Worth, Jackson Hole, Denver, Palm Springs, Kansas City and Albuquerque, and Sedona.
The artist works entirely freehand, inspired by worldwide Tribal and First Peoples imagery. Sugar Maple wood is used as the “canvas”. Once shaped, designs are burned at high temperatures onto the wood using a single, 1/8” straight-line tool. It is not uncommon for artwork to require 25,000+ individual cuts/burns/colored cells to execute a design. Today, Keoni is among only the very few excelling in these unusual techniques - bringing to life distant memories, honored heritage and a reverence for shared tribal history. As an artist, Keoni believes himself still very new born, carving in this “touchable illusion” style only since 2017.
Artwork in private collections throughout US, Canada, Europe and Asia. Gallery list by request: email the artist at: KeoniWoodArt@gmail.com .