I’ve been interested in art since I took my first art class at Kamehameha in fifth grade. Learning about Jackson Polluck, Herb Kāne, Picasso, Salvador Dali and Rembrandt inspired me to appreciate the beauty of their pieces. While the modern art at the Whitney Museum in NYC was humorous, the MET’s classic pieces were awe-inspiring. Seeing Jackson Polluck’s iconic splatter painting in real life was a dream come true as it was the first piece of art I fell in love with (other than Kāne’s Battle of the Pali scene). The MET held a legitimate lei niho palaoa along with other native Hawaiian and Polynesian artifacts and combined with the Japanese samurai items, made me feel like I was home. The paintings I loved were either dark or extremely colorful, illustrating different moments of and emotions associated with American history. I wanted to document my favorite pieces so I wouldn’t forget how they made me feel when I stepped foot in the giant time machine.