Art
Debris-inspired art, local printmakers' works provocative

By Virginia Wageman
Advertiser Art Critic

Where most of us see a dump or a pile of debris, Kenne Mahoney finds inspiration for her complex, multilayered works on paper, a selection of which is currently on view at bibelot Gallery.

•	Kenne Mahoney Bibelot Gallery, 1130 Koko Head Ave. Through July 20 738-0368 Through the Window Academy Art Center, Honolulu Academy of Arts Through July 20 532-8700 Roger Whitlock and Jodi Endicott Gallery at Ward Centre Through July 27 597-8034

But in the current body of work, multiple plates and passes through the press serve to create the effects previously accomplished with collage. This process means a flatter surface than that of the collaged photos. At the same time the surface is richer by virtue of the paper she can use in an etching press, paper with a toothy, uncoated finish that results in soft, diffuse lines. The trick is to exploit the softness while not losing essential details in the images, and here Mahoney seems to have found the essential balance.

The initial photographs were mostly made at a landfill created on Kaua'i after hurricane 'Iniki. Mahoney does not manipulate a scene or pile of junk before she photographs it. And she often takes advantage of images that emerge on their own from the abstraction photographed.

The number 3 (in theology, the Trinity) has special meaning for Mahoney and appears in one way or another in most of the images. Often the added imagery will be something in threes — three nails, three crucifixes, three (heavenly) ladders and the like.

Also, from the titles of the works alone ("Absolution, Cathedra, Mystery: Three in One," "Resurrection," "Stigmata") it is apparent that the artist's inspiration is infused with spirituality, most specifically Catholicism, but going beyond that to an overarching sense of the mysterious and sublime.

In "Stigmata," three nails and a slip of paper with the letters "INRI," which traditionally appear with the crucified Christ, have been superimposed over a photo of a pile of wood, suggesting a broken crucifix.

Perhaps her most serendipitous image is a pile of three pieces of driftwood leaning on the beach against one another, topped with a crucifix form. She actually saw this on the beach one evening (on 3/13, no less) and rushed home for her camera to capture the scene. The result is the work titled "Trinity," with a rectangular form worked into the area behind the cross that serves to contain the cross while suggesting a tomb and the transept of a church as well.

All the images are worked over after they emerge from the etching press. On some, hand-coloring, graphite, ink and/or bronzing powder have been applied, and areas are often rubbed with fine sandpaper.

An employee of Liberty House on Kaua'i, Mahoney has exhibited in numerous group shows in the Islands. This, her first solo exhibition, demonstrates a body of work that is intellectually provocative as well as exemplary for its detailed handwork.

At the Academy Art Center, more fine examples of printmaking may be seen, most with more traditional approaches such as straight woodcut, linocut, lithograph and intaglio.

The show is comprised of works done for a portfolio exchange among members of the Honolulu Printmakers and the Women Printmakers of Austin, Texas.

The Honolulu Printmakers have had exchanges previously with artists in Alaska and California. The process gives added impetus to the artists to create exceptional works and creates an opportunity for exhibition.

The theme of this show, "Through the Window," provided all sorts of possibilities for interpretation, the only requirement being that a uniform size of 11 by 15 inches be kept.

Printmakers in the show, particularly those from Honolulu, demonstrate a sophisticated approach to their medium, many of them stretching to achieve technically difficult results.

Notable among these is David Smith, whose "Reflections" contains multiple layers of photographic imagery printed with a combination of lithography and an old proofing method called Vandyke, named after the deep brown pigment used by the painter Van Dyck.

Deborah Nehmad's chosen print medium of pyrography lends itself well to the window theme, since she actually burns holes in paper. For the current work she used a metal die to burn rows of rectangles, many of which are burned through so that typewritten words can be glimpsed behind them. The mystery of those words combined with the artist's pencil scribblings of numbers on the front sheet create a compelling metaphor for ritual related to pain (the word "pain" is partially visible), as if the making of the print might serve to stamp out pain.

Among others whose prints demonstrate technical virtuosity are, from Honolulu, Louise Barr, Shirley Hasenyager, Marcia Morse, Laura Smith and Dodie Warren, and from Austin, Deborah McLouth, Anna Marie Pavlik and Margaret Simpson.

Very beautiful examples of printmaking may also be seen in the works of Lisa Louise Adams, Kimberly Chai, Anne Irons and Laura Ruby, all from Honolulu.

The cooperative Gallery at Ward Centre is showing the work of one of its longtime members, Roger Whitlock, along with invited artist Jodi Endicott.

Whitlock's watercolors are incredibly luscious. Until now he might have been dubbed, in the Renaissance manner, "Master of the Heliconia" for his gorgeous depictions of those and other plants.

The new works, the first since his recent retirement as professor of English at the University of Hawai'i, focus on landscape — a subject he's dealt with before, but here the landscapes are abstracted and tenuous, seeming to shift and melt under a tropical sun.

He says, in fact, that he had intended to paint abstractions but that landscape features emerged. Bowing to this, he gave further form to the landscape elements, outlining them with lines drawn with a twig dipped in paint.

The works in the show are titled "Ridgelines," taking their name from the craggy ridges that emerge in the paintings. In addition, there is an assortment of small watercolors of plant life, landscapes, and exquisite small "ridgelines."

Endicott's works comprise a menagerie of animals: six rabbits, three cats and a dog. The rabbits and dog are made of modeled and painted concrete; the cats are cast in bronze.

These are no "cute" objects to be fawned over. Rather, they are fiercely individualistic creatures, serving as metaphors, the artist says, for "real life experiences."

The dog, a terrier, has the grizzled look of age. The lounging cats literally melt into their pedestals, as cats are prone to do, while the rabbits are energetic and alert.

Endicott's work is always exciting to see, and she doesn't disappoint us here.

E-mail vwageman@aol.com to reach Virginia Wageman.