COURTESY ALA MOANA CENTER
This 6-foot-tall bronze pumpkin was created by Yayoi Kusama, an artist from Japan known for using polka dots.
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Ala Moana Center has some new giant art pieces to go with all its new retail space.
Two bronze sculptures sitting in pools of water — a 6-foot pumpkin weighing 1,200 pounds and an 8-foot figure titled “Kiaʿi” — “guardian” — were recently dedicated in the new Ewa wing, which opened late last year and has been filled out with more retailers in recent months.
A third art installation featuring three bronze-colored ceramic forms is slated to be dedicated by the end of this month in the mall’s Diamond Head wing.
The mall said the new art complements three major artworks installed 50 years ago when a second phase opened at what was then a 7-year-old shopping center.
Seattle artist Gerard Tsutakawa, the creator of “Kia‘i,” is the son of George Tsutakawa, who created one of the 50-year-old artworks, a piece called “Waiola,” which is near Macy’s.
The creator of the pumpkin piece is Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who is also known for her work using polka dot images.
Stephen Freedman, an artist who works on Hawaii island, created the Diamond Head wing’s new ceramic sculptures titled “Memory Containers.”