About the Artists
Made in Hawaii, born in Massachusetts, Mark Cunningham has been in love with the ocean and surf for 60 years. Punahou released him in 1974 for good behavior...A retired City & County of Honolulu Lifeguard he still spends the bulk of his time on the beach and in the water.
As much as Mark loves to ride waves he’s just as intrigued with what lie’s beneath them.
When the conditions allow, he dons mask, fins and snorkel and makes the most out of exploring and scavenging reefs and impact zones for exercise and treasure. Beachcombing between Makapuu and Kahuku on Oahu’s Windward shoreline, has provided all the wood for the pieces you see here.
You may be looking around and wondering... “treasure”? For yes, everyman’s treasure will be defined in a different and unique manner and for Mark, these pieces represent a life, a story and an adventure: the remains of a wipeout, a tale floated from miles away, the shiny and the new becoming corroded and encrusted, and the inevitable passage of time.
How long were these under water? Whose surfboard did they get ripped off of? How big was the wave that yanked that watch off? How long was that wood adrift at sea?
It’s Mark’s deep lifelong love of beaches, the ocean and surfing that has inspired him to share this with you....
Mark Cunningham
808-224-2626
Ethan Estess is a marine scientist-turned-artist from Santa Cruz who communicates about the challenges facing the ocean through sculpture and printmaking. He worked as a research technician at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for 7 years studying bluefin tunas from Japan to Nova Scotia and has published on topics ranging from great white shark ecology to tuna bioenergetics and physiology. He holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in environmental science from Stanford University where he studied oceanography, mechanical engineering, and studio art. Estess has participated in several art residencies, including the Recology program at the San Francisco landfill where he constructed a life-size whale tail sculpture from reclaimed rope that was later displayed for millions of viewers at the San Francisco international airport. His artworks are currently exhibited in North America, Europe, and Japan, and he has created installations for the Bernice Pauahi Bishop and J. Paul Getty Museums. In recent years, Estess has collaborated with various nonprofit groups to build monumental wave sculptures from ocean trash that have reached millions of viewers with a message of ocean stewardship.
Jonathan Steinberg lives quietly on the westside of Santa Cruz