Artist Lauren Trangmar is one of a dozen Hawaiʻi-based artists who decorated a pig sculpture to raise money for the Hawaiʻi Foodbank as part of the Piggyback Spam Project. The silent auction started April 1 and closes Saturday, April 26, the day of Waikīkī Spam Jam.
The Waikīkī Spam Jam, which features local vendors, music and entertainment, attracted about 35,000 attendees last year. During the event, volunteers collect Spam products for the Hawaiʻi Foodbank.
For the silent auction, the sculptures are resin models of an original design cast in bronze and created by Hawaiʻi-based artist John Koga in 2010.
The pigs in the silent auction include one that has been playing in the mud and has silver wings and a halo.
Another is decorated entirely in gold.
Yet one more has grey hair.
Artists participating in the fundraiser include Yvonne Cheng, Kaili Chun, Solomon Enos, Christina Ho, Hadley Nunes, Kamea Hadar, Sanit Khewhok, Lauren Trangmar, Pegge Hopper, Sally French, Kelly Sueda and Masami Teraoka.
Trangmar’s pig has tattoos.
“I started thinking about Spam as an iconic part of the food in Hawaiʻi and associated with Hawaiʻi,” she said. “And then I started thinking about other things that people commonly associate with the islands like beaches, waves and hibiscus.”
Working on this project was an interesting challenge because sculptures are three dimensional, she added.
“I started thinking about tattoos and the way that tattoos have the ability to project a certain image and tell stories about what's important to who's wearing them,” Trangmar said.
She worked on the project over a number of weeks, along with other work.
“It was a really fun project,” she said. “We were asked to do something creative and fun that's collaborative too, with a whole bunch of really amazing artists. I was so honored to be included with them. ... It was such a cool project, and then to know that it was going towards a really good cause — it's kind of a winner when you can help someone and also do some really cool work and be doing it with a bunch of other amazing people. It was just the best kind of project.”
Trangmar is from New Zealand. She started studying graphic design at the University of Canterbury but an earthquake in New Zealand sent her to Hawaiʻi to visit family. She never left. Trangmar ended up finishing her degree at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. A chance to showcase work at Honolulu Museum of Art launched her career as an illustrator.
Recently, Trangmar collaborated with Tori Richard on whimsical designs for alohawear, including a button-down shirt and a t-shirt. Those designs were released earlier this month.
She will also be featured with other artists in a show at the GreenRoom Hawaiʻi in Haleʻiwa on Saturday, April 26.
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
