What started out as a latecareer retrospective has evolved into a testament to a life's work.

John Wisnosky, the influential Island artist and 15-year chairman of the University of Hawai'i art department, selected many of the works in preparation for "Little Seen, Less Seen, Unseen," now on view at Windward Community College's Gallery 'Iolani.

Diagnosed with cancer at the time, he was sure he would be around to see the show. "John was of the mind that he was going to make it," says Tom Klobe, a close friend and director emeritus of the University of Hawai'i Art Gallery. "He was very positive."

Wisnosky died in May, and Klobe made sure that the show went on.

In life, Wisnosky challenged people to search for what it means to be human. The art he left behind gives a hint to the answer.

"Little Seen, Less Seen, Unseen" reveals Wisnosky's ability to describe the atmosphere, emotion and essence of the natural world, things encountered daily but perhaps not noticed for their beauty.

Ken Bushnell, who taught at UH-Manoa under Wisnosky, remembers the artist as "a natural leader."

"He had a good sense of how to run a diverse group of faculty members well, and he always mixed humor with his administrative duties," Bushnell said.

From bringing the first kinetic art show to the state to encouraging nationally recognized artists to come to Hawai'i and organizing community events, Wisnosky looked at the world from every possible angle.

Bushnell recalled that students liked him because he was "always straddling the abstract and realism with his interest in nature and in things that were barely there. He was always able to communicate his romantic relationship with nature rather than just dispense academic information. He would challenge people with questions about how we perceive the sky, for example."

'Iolani Gallery director Toni Martin has a particular interest in honoring Wisnosky's work. "John was the first art teacher I ever had. His critiques were great, always encouraging. He was very positive. He would find inspiration from the most original places and just really wow us all."

His ability, as a teacher, to urge people to delve into themselves is also what made him so talented as an artist. The show reveals the many sides of an artist who was "finding himself" throughout his life.

From enormous, ethereal acrylic paintings to Vietnam-era political commentary; from delicately detailed watercolors to heavy, dark collages, Wisnosky's work echoes his social, visual, emotional and visceral states over time.

As Klobe explains, "John was really influenced by the environment that he lived in. For example, much of his work shows the uniqueness of the tropical quality of the light here, but the two dark collages included in the show that contrast the atmospheric works, were done when he lived in Virginia and are reminiscent of the coal mines there."

One of the most striking pieces in the show, "Daughter's Journey," is a perfect example of the quality of light Klobe describes. The deep red, pink and yellow tones are woven together the way light naturally streams over the ocean in Hawai'i. It is instantly familiar to anyone who lives here.

Although Wisnosky selected many of the works in preparation for this show, Klobe completed the curation. He says that in keeping with the show's title (Wisnosky's idea), he selected some of the artist's better-known work and combined it with things from Wisnosky's studio that had never been shown.

"I found things in his studio that even his family hadn't seen before," says Klobe. "The diversity of his body of work is amazing. This show is just the tip of the iceberg. I could have filled a space three times as big all with significant works of art." Klobe wanted to "honor (Wisnosky) by representing his work in a way that he would have liked."

The body of work presented might at first seem an eclectic array of mediums and styles, but unfolds as a whole that is at once breathtaking, thought-provoking and inspiring.

Cindy Urbanc is a freelance writer based in Honolulu.