Dane Nakama

Dane Hiʻipoi Nakama is a Japanese-Uchinanchu ceramicist, painter, and educator whose work bridges local aesthetics, folklore, and postcolonial critique. Raised on O‘ahu and currently based on Tongva land, Nakama’s interdisciplinary practice is both highly referential and disarmingly tender—addressing settler colonialism, ancestral memory, and island identity through a visual lexicon that includes AstroTurf, li hing mui, jalousie windows, and clay geckos. Nakama has exhibited across Hawai‘i and the US continent, and is also the co-founder of a small arts school and ceramic studio known as fishschool Hawai‘i. They received their BFA from the California Institute of the Arts and are currently pursuing an MFA in ceramics at UCLA, where they integrate academic rigor with a commitment to accessibility, humor, and cultural specificity.

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