Avi Molinas
MAUI · PAINTER + SCULPTOR
Presence, carried through paint and form.
Avi Molinas moves between painting and sculpture, bringing a lifetime of looking, making and movement—from Barcelona and the Pyrenees to more than two decades of life on Maui—into work concerned with human presence, material and memory.
The Practice
Two dimensions. Three dimensions. The same search for presence.
Avi works as a painter and a sculptor. The practices are not separate careers—they are two ways of looking for the same thing: human presence held in material.
On the wall, that search appears in oil and in portraiture attentive to poise, dignity and intellect. In the round, it appears in wood carved from gifted Maui timber—forms that ask the viewer to walk around the work, not only face it.
MFAC presents selected paintings and selected sculpture from this practice. The page is not a résumé; it is an introduction to how he works.
An education built by looking.
Guillem “Avi” Molinas Bort is a self-taught painter and sculptor from Barcelona. His formal education was in the library-like basement of the Sala Gaspar, where he spent countless hours studying the lines and form of Picasso, Miró, Tàpies and other Catalan artists—the same gallery that first represented him exclusively as a young adult.
After the closure of Sala Gaspar and another gallery in New York in 2001, he largely retreated from the art world. The education remained: looking closely, then making.
The work left the wall.
In the quiet of the Pyrenees he completed public sculptures and found other work for nearly ten years. Form in the round—weight, silhouette, the walk around a piece—became part of how he thinks.
That sculptural practice continues on Maui. Holomua, carved from Milo and Koa gifted on island, is the first sculpture available through MFAC.
Sculpture is a first-class medium at Maui Fine Art Collective—not a secondary lane under painting.
Maui · Since 2006
A visit became a life.
Love of the ocean, curiosity and a yearning for something new led him to Maui. What began as a visit became more than two decades of life here. He works from Maliko Gulch on the North Shore, husband and father in a family committed to Hawaiian language revitalization and cultural learning.
Position
Looking toward. Learning from. Never claiming authority.
Avi is clear about his own position: a resident of Maui who was not raised here and is not Native Hawaiian. His public work engages Hawaiian history and people with humility—looking toward, learning from, and responding to, never claiming authority over.
Nā Aloha ʻĀina
Looking for the person inside the history.
Avi’s oil portraits of Hawaiʻi kūpuna and aliʻi communicate poise, dignity and intellect. The Nā Aloha ʻĀina body of work was shown at Hale Hōʻikeʻike / Bailey House Museum (coverage around 2019) and later connected to public presentation at Grand Wailea’s Pālaha Hawaiian Cultural Center.
At MFAC this body of work is artist history and exhibition context—not available inventory. Individual Nā Aloha ʻĀina portraits are not listed as products or reproductions here. Collectors interested in Avi’s current painting practice should begin a conversation with the Collective.
Artist Voice
From his artist proposal for SMALL TOWN * BIG ART:
“I value the Hawaiian culture and want to help perpetuate the history and stories of the people of Hawaiʻi.”
— Avi Molinas · artist proposal for SMALL TOWN * BIG ART
In the same proposal he states plainly that he is a Maui resident who was not raised here and is not Native Hawaiian—and that people like him, visitors, and those born and raised in the islands still have reason to learn more about the everyday lives of the people indigenous to this land.
Legacy
SMALL TOWN * BIG ART · Wailuku
In 2021, SMALL TOWN * BIG ART presented Avi’s Wailuku Legacy portraits—including Hōkūlani Holt and Judge Noa Auwae Kepoikai with Rose Daniels Kepoikai—with large-scale replicas at First Hawaiian Bank in Wailuku. The Legacy film made with ST*BA at Hale Hōʻikeʻike and at his Maui property remains the best public record of that conversation.
At MFAC, Legacy is exhibition history and public context—not shop inventory. Individual Legacy originals are not listed as products here. Availability of any original is a question for Avi and the Collective—begin a conversation.
Current Work
Painting. Portraiture and human presence remain central to Avi’s practice. Selected paintings enter the house as documentation and conversation allow. New painting inventory is being prepared—begin a conversation if you are looking in that direction.
Sculpture. Holomua is available now through MFAC. Additional sculpture will appear in the Sculpture collection as pieces are documented.
Holomua
Milo and Koa from Maui. A human form carrying knowledge forward—Avi’s own words on the product page describe the piece from log to finished sculpture.
This is the first Avi Molinas work available through the Collective.
PAINTING + SCULPTURE · MAUI
Available Works
Selected work by Avi Molinas at MFAC. Holomua is live; new pieces enter as they are documented.
Selected History
Barcelona — Early study and exclusive representation at Sala Gaspar.
New York — Gallery representation ends with a 2001 closure; retreat from the market art world.
Pyrenees — Nearly ten years of public sculpture and other work away from city streets.
2006 · Maui — A visit becomes a life; studio practice from Maliko Gulch.
2019 — Nā Aloha ʻĀina portraits shown at Hale Hōʻikeʻike / Bailey House Museum.
2020 — Work connected to public presentation at Grand Wailea / Pālaha Hawaiian Cultural Center.
2021 — SMALL TOWN * BIG ART Wailuku Legacy portraits; large-scale replicas at First Hawaiian Bank, Wailuku.
Go closer
External evidence and further reading (opens off-site):
MauiTime — Nā Aloha ʻĀina at Hale Hōʻikeʻike
Go closer with MFAC
For selected paintings, sculpture, a private viewing, or a quieter look at what may enter the house next, write MFAC. A real person on Maui will write back.
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