Title: ‘Makai’

Series/Location: Kauai, I Love You, Kauai, Hawai’i

Size: 22×12 in (55.8×30.4cm)

Date Created: August 11th, 2019

Medium: Pigment on Museum Archival Parchment

Editions: Signed 1 of 25 Edition Unframed

Description: In Makai, Samuel R. J. Gillilan distills the ocean into an abstract field of color, composition, and breath. The imagery presents the sea not as narrative, but as essence—a contemplative gesture in blue, stretching infinitely toward the horizon.

At once painterly and photographic, the image evokes the color field minimalism of Rothko and the spiritual landscapes of Hiroshi Sugimoto. Its subtle gradation from turquoise shallows to deep ultramarine invites the viewer to engage with the work as a visual meditation. What emerges is not merely a depiction of ocean and sky, but a study in perception, memory, and quietude.

Printed at large scale on museum-grade baryta paper, Makai occupies the space between form and formlessness. It is a visual mantra—a horizon not of distance, but of stillness.