Sean K. L. Browne

Sean K. L. Browne
Sean Kekamakupaʻa Lee Loy Browne (born 1953) was born in 1953 and raised on Hawaiian Homestead Lands in Keaukaha, Hilo, Hawaii. A graduate of the Kamehameha Schools class of 1971, he earned his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Redlands in 1975 and his Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1983. In 1981 he traveled to Pietrasanta, Italy to study marble carving under Paoli Silverio and was later accepted as an artist-in-residence at Henreaux Marble Company in Querceta, Italy. In 1985 he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship, enabling him to study stone sculpture under the guidance of Isamu Noguchi in Shikoku, Japan. For many years, Browne taught sculpture at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and at Kapiʻolani Community College.
Sean’s metal and stone commissions have been executed in Hawaii, California and abroad, including the Yamada Stone Company in Mure, Japan, the Girogio Angeli studio in Querceta, Italy and the Versiliese Foundry in Pietrasanta, Italy.
Some of Sean’s figurative commission work of Hawaiian royalty can be seen in Waikiki, Honolulu, including statues of King David Kalakaua, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop and Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana’ole. Examples of Sean’s abstract stone and metal work, that draw inspiration from his native Hawaiian culture, can be seen at Kapiʻolani Community College, Pali Momi Medical Center, the Hawaii State Art Museum, the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu, Hawaii and the Ellison Onizuka Airport, Kona, Hawaii.
Notable works
Ikaika (strong) (1980), cast bronze and black granite sculpture, Hawaii State Art Museum
Hui (1983), cast bronze, 1001 Bishop Square, Honolulu, Hawaii
Ka Makau (1983), bronze sculpture, Keaukaha Elementary School, Hilo
Ka Peahi IV (1983), sculpture, Hawaii State Art Museum
Na Moku Ekolu (Three Islands) (1985), cast and welded silicon bronze sculpture, Maui Community College, Kahului
Orpheus (1985), cast bronze, Honolulu Museum of Art
Ring Pounder (1987), Westin Kaua’I Hotel, Lihue, Kaua’i
Spirit Way (1987), bronze sculpture, Kapiʻolani Community College, Honolulu
Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka Aina I Ka Pono (1988), Carrara marble sculpture, Wailuku Judiciary Complex, Maui
Aina Lani (1989), black granite tile and stainless steel sculpture, Pali Momi Medical Center, Pearl City
Cape Form (1990), cast and welded bronze, Four Seasons Hotel, Wailea, Maui
Mahaina II (1990), bronze sculpture, The Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu
Portrait of Maurice Sullivan (1990), cast bronze, St. Francis Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
King David Kalakaua (1989–91), bronze sculpture, Waikiki Gateway Park, Honolulu
Fish Form (1991), granite, Grand Hyatt Wailea, Wailea, Maui
Liberty (1991), black granite, Yamada Stone Museum, Aji, Kagawa, Japan
Lahui (1992), silicon bronze sheet sculpture, Kakaako Waterfront Park
Lima Hoola (1993) basalt sculpture, Hawaii State Hospital, Kaneohe
Portrait of Sister Maureen Keleher O.S.F. (1994), cast bronze, St. Francis Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
Manta (1995), cast and welded bronze, Bank of Hawaii, Kapolei, Hawaii
Pahoa (1995), basalt terrazzo sculpture, Pahoa High and Intermediate School, Pahoa
Portrait of Mayor Tony Kunimura (1999), cast bronze, Lihue Civic Center, Kaua’i
Mahiole (2000), red granite sculpture, Kona International Airport, Kona
Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana 'ole (2001), bronze sculpture, Kuhio Beach Park, Waikiki
Ka Makahiki (2003), bronze and brass sculpture, Maemae Elementary School, Oahu
Ke Kaii (The Guardian) by Sean K. L. Browne, granite 2003, Hawaii State Art Museum's Sculpture Garden
Memorial Fountain (2005), limestone, Waianae Coast Comprehensive Center, Waianae, Hawaii
Parian Warrior (2005), carved marble sculpture, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, Hawaii
Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop (2007), cast bronze , Helumoa, Waikiki, Hawaii
Kahu O Ka Wai O Hilo (2009), black granite, Hilo Judiciary Complex, Hilo, Hawaii
Masaru (Pundy) Yokouchi (2010), cast bronze, Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Kahului, Maui
Pupukahi I Holomua Kakou (united we grow) (2013), cast/welded bronze sculpture, Kohala Elementary School, Kohala, Hawaii
Ko’I (adze) (2023), black granite, Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu, Hawaii
References
Cazimero, Momi, David J. de la Torre and Manulani Aluli Meyer, Nā Maka Hou: New Visions, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, 2001 page 32–33.
Hartwell, Patricia L. (editor), Retrospective 1967-1987, Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1987, page 134.
Yoshihara, Lisa A., Collective Visions, 1967-1997, An Exhibition Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Art in Public Places Program, Presented at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, September 3-October 12, 1997, Honolulu, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, 1997, pages 150–151.
External links
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museum
Footnotes
1953 births
Living people
Modern sculptors
Sculptors from Hawaii
People from Hilo, Hawaii
University of Redlands alumni
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Kapiʻolani Community College faculty