The road to Hana crawls along cliffs, hugs the limbs of trees, and leaves one feeling vulnerable, yet exhilarated. Nestled above these rainforest cliffs where men hunt wild boar, above fresh water streams where barefoot children climb river rocks, Arabella Ark rolls slabs of clay in her studio, her sanctuary, in Hana, Maui. While scents of ginger permeate her lanai-style studio, a space perched open as a nest to the coo of doves, her ceramics do not speak of the islands or of the myths women at local fruit stands feed strangers. Instead, allusions to doorways and open windows invite the observer to go inside. Read more Order your Summer 2008 issue of La Vie Claire Magazine

The Road to Hana story by athena ponushis photography by douglas merriam “My work can be dark, kind of like the scary moment before you enter a new space, when you have to summon up the courage,” she says, “like a kid at a kindergarten door or the first day at a new job when you’re waiting for the elevator doors to open. The moment you know it’s okay, the moment you say, ‘I’m entering a new space now, a new space in my life.’”