Inside Punky Aloha’s World, Where Pasifika Women Reign

Inside Punky Aloha’s World, Where Pasifika Women Reign

After years of relying on commissions and collaborations, Kailua-born illustrator Shar Tuiasoa is telling her own story. Images by Will Matsuda In the pictorial realm of Shar Tuiasoa, curvaceous Pacific Islander women take up space. Here, in a multiverse of her making untainted by exploitative forces, a Polynesian Barbie world awaits, where girls lick shave ice like it’s nobody’s business, a lady longboarder casually hangs ten, and a curious swi…