"Joseph Campbell said 'Are we the lightbulb or the energy that goes through the lightbulb?' His answer was the energy," says David Behlke, director and curator of Kapi'olani Community College's Koa Gallery. And that's what his new exhibition, "Heaven and Earth," at the Gallery on the Pali is about, he says, "and living in this wonderful dot in the center of the Pacific Ocean."

He started work on his series of 17 pastel drawings six months ago. "There was a seed idea; it came from playing around with compass and protractor, and suddenly the moon popped into the picture, then invented flora." The works are "all about mark-making and overlapping of shapes and spaces and my love of color comes through — for me color is energy," says Behlke.

On a personal level, the series is about "loving someone — in this case my wife — but also universally loving, healing."

Reach Lesa Griffith at lgriffith@honoluluadvertiser.com.