Artists explore East-West influences in Hawai'i

By Virginia Wageman
Advertiser Art Critic

Hawai'i's unique position at the crossroads of the Pacific establishes a milieu hospitable to the arts of both the East and the West. In recognition of this, the Hono-lulu Academy of Arts is showcasing 22 local artists whose works reflect cross-cultural influences drawn from the East and West.

This is a splendid exhibition, chock-full of great pieces, most created especially for the show. Included are paintings, prints, ceramics, photographs and a number of mixed-media works and installations.

The selection of artists can't be faulted. Included are those who are emerging as strong presences on the local scene, in addition to people well known in Hawai'i and others of international repute, such as Masami Teraoka and Hiroki Morinoue.

Many of the artists are first-generation Asian immigrants to Hawai'i.

Others were born in Hawai'i of multicultural parentage, and yet others are transplants from the Mainland. Whatever their roots, all treat the East/West theme in a manner unique to their cultural heritage and artistic traditions, making for a multifaceted and fascinating display.

The show opens with a selection of prints and watercolors made by Teraoka over the past 20 years. A native of Japan who has lived in the West for four decades, he is known for his sly mingling of Western imagery in works that are faithful to their Japanese sources in ukiyo-e prints.

Teraoka explores political, social and sexual mores of his adopted land in such images as "McDonald's Hamburgers Invading Japan," which has the look of a traditional ukiyo-e print. However, in addition to the obvious Big Mac at lower right, Western influence is evident in the geisha, who exposes a lot more ankle than would be commonly displayed in a Japanese print.

The intermingling of imagery from East and West is found in many of the other works exhibited. In a series of magnificent handscrolls intended to evoke the scrolls of her native China, Yida Wang depicts fragments of Western images, such as Coca-Cola and Marlboro logos, or covers from English-language books that explore cross-cultural themes. These are united by a sweeping calligraphic brushstroke down the center of each scroll. Demonstrating a clash of cultures, the scrolls are in a vertical format rather than the horizontal orientation of traditional Chinese scrolls.

In her take on Oriental scroll paintings, Lena Ching has decorated three wall panels with palm-tree pieces that form calligraphic patterns. Also using plant life for materials, Gail Toma's constructions refer to Japanese warrior helmets, and Lori Uyehara's wall sculpture suggests calligraphic forms.

Gaye Chang, a Hong Kong native, explores Asian fascination with America in a provocative series of color photographs of Asian people, on each of which a dotted silhouette of a U.S. president's head has been punched out. In several of the photos the president's image emerges strongly, while in most of them the color portrait dominates. The title, "Chimaera," refers to the fanciful monster in Greek myth that is formed from highly disparate parts.

Laura Ruby, a transplant to Hawai'i from the Mainland, embraces Hawai'i's history in two grand installations and several prints. Referring to the demise of the monarchy, Ruby has constructed an amazingly clever "fractured" pool table that represents the rifts in Hawai'i's culture brought about by the influx of Westerners and the China trade in sandalwood.

Ruby's constructed boat, trailed by a series of cute, constructed waves, appears to be a jaunty sailboat ready for an outing, except that it's full of iron nails, a reference to the materials for which Hawaiians traded sandalwood to its extinction in the Islands.

Kentucky-born Roy Venters incorporates Eastern imagery in his marvelous pop altars, Christian crosses and hand-painted ceramic plates.

Although raised a Christian, Vrinda Bowman was introduced in her native St. Louis to Eastern religions, whose spiritual traditions can be seen in the bodhisattvas and deities that inhabit her dreamy canvases.

Interpreting — almost mocking — the kind of permanent display found in the academy's East Meets West galleries, Darius Homay, an artist of Anglo-Indian descent, has created an installation that incorporates a mannequin clad in a sari decorated with Coke logos. A silver box on a table holds, instead of snuff, powdered turmeric, and an antique-style chair is covered with fast-food burger wrappers.

The other artists in the show are Vicky Chock, Kauka de Silva, Ka-Ning Fong, Jianjie Ji, Kloe Kang, Hanae Uechi Mills, Esther Shimazu, Dana Teruya Len, Ray Valencia and Suzanne Wolfe — all with equally powerful statements on East meets West.

All in all, this is an enormously satisfying — and very exciting — show, curated by David de la Torre, the academy's associate director. The artists' takes on the theme are compelling, the artworks are well thought out and meticulously executed, and the balance of star artists with relative newcomers is commendable.

Virginia Wageman can be reached at VWageman@aol.com

Correction: A photo was misidentified in a previous version of this story. The photo shows Laura Ruby's 1993 screenprint, "Fleeting Currency: Sandalwood Trade."