The state’s new Consolidated Rent-A-Car center (Conrac) features a large glass installation titled “Ahupuaʻa/ Laulima” by Kauaʻi artist Carol Bennett. The center opened on December 1, 2021 at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.
The installation features two sets of nine panels that act as a visually enhanced physical barrier between the passenger escalators and the terminal roadway system to the south. Each set of panels (“West” and “East”) vary in size from 14 feet to 27 and a half feet high. The panels are 5 feet wide and approximately half an inch thick.
“My guiding force has been to re- present the nature and historical activities of the ahupuaʻa in a modern and contemporary way, linking the past to present. In researching the ahupuaʻa and the creative and domestic tasks that take place there, I came to see how nature inspired creativity and was struck by the commonality of shapes in nature. A kī leaf is shaped like a fish, wood grain swirls like water, and circular fish scales mimic the shapes of tiny spores found in that same kī leaf. I found kapa patterns with dots and marveled at the sea urchins that inspired it.
I like the combination of presenting facts and wonder.” – Carol Bennett
The HNL Conrac houses the major car rental companies doing business at the airport in a new five-story structure.