UH multimedia show strives for visual conversations

• Gallery 'Iolani is hosting the Statewide Community College

By Victoria Gail-White
Advertiser Art Critic

•	'Antilogocentricus' Through Dec. 20 University of Hawai'i- Manoa Art Gallery, Art Building 10:30 a.m. — 4 p.m. weekdays Noon to 4 p.m. Sundays 956-6888

It does not discount logic as a means of understanding, but holds that there are other, equally valid approaches to knowledge." And so it is written in the description of the exhibit now at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa gallery.

Twenty-three students graduating with Master of Fine Arts degrees created paintings, ceramics, fiber, glass, photography, design, printmaking, sculpture and electronic-media works in a sample demonstration of what this concept signifies to them.

The exhibit is accompanied by a catalog of playing-sized cards that can be purchased. In it, the students chart their answers to questions about their artistic philosophy and their ideas about the artworks they made for the exhibit. Each card features a graph of the artist's answers. It is interesting to note that, generally, they strongly disagreed that it didn't matter what the final piece looked like and that every new art project should be better than the last one. They agreed that the artwork is an extension of the artist; an artwork's context is important to its meaning; and that when pricing their artwork, the monetary value increased in proportion to their emotional attachment. There is room on the accompanying sheet for you to take the test and plot your own answers on the graph among their responses.

Noted artist, art professor, curator, art writer and critic Marcia Morse guided a tour through the exhibit and commented on some of the artworks. She asked the students why they wanted a master's degree. What did it mean in terms of a professional credential? What would it allow them to do that they couldn't do otherwise? And what will they do in the real world?

"There are a lot of existential and philosophical questions underneath the works," says Morse. "It is interesting to see work focused in that way, not only purely the mastery of technical process. There is a rich content within the works. I can appreciate good technique as a foundation. It seems to me that, if you are going to give physical form to your ideas — being attentive to and concerned about that physicality — it becomes important to respect your materials and honor them. So it is working for a kind of resolution, a finished quality but not a finish. There is a distinction; it is not a superficial thing."

In an open and spacious multimedia installation such as this one, each work has significance. The intensity or softness of each piece appears more profound. The students did a superb job of designing and installing the works. Their personae emerge through their work, engaging the viewer in visual conversations — which is as it should be (and what one would expect from masters of art.) It is important while viewing this show to remember that the word "student" does not necessarily mean a young adult.

Abigail Romanchak's full wall of elongated papers titled "Na i'e kuku" with photo-transfer, etching and monoprint transmits the rhythmic quality of kapa beaters (kuku). "This important Hawaiian artifact has become an art object emblematic of this rich culture. It gives you a point of entry into that culture," Morse says.

"The Minimalist Banquet," a vertical sculpture constructed of an aluminum holder and seven staked, empty, white ceramic plates by George Newton, "addresses the issue of having too much on our plate," the artist says. The work generates introspection about our stress levels, especially at this time of year. Ah, simplicity.

The two large oil paintings of Karen Goins (Untitled self-portraits) and three large mixed-media paintings by Julie Laymon ("Lua o Milu," "Kaniakapupu," and "Kumulipo") are powerful and subtle simultaneously. Both artists masterfully offer the unflinching world of stone — one in the form of a stony facial expression, the other in a composition of rocks. Coincidentally, there is a hidden softness and meaning inside the hard exteriors of both subjects.

Body parts in a piece of artwork are poignant. "They can't help but touch us in a way that perhaps other subjects don't," says Morse. "Oftentimes, we make a visceral connection — another physicality with which we project ourselves." The title of one such work, "I'll see you on the dark side of the moon," comes from a Pink Floyd song according to artist Tiare Dutcher. "The body parts are both myself and my husband," she says. "It is about our relationship and an illness he has had for the past four years. The cabinet represents the male and female parts of myself." Hands in the cabinet stretch out to hold other hands through the shelves; a breast sits on a corner of one shelf, and legs stretch outside the boundaries of the cabinet doors.

Thomas Wasson's "air-con-fon, sonic displacement 1+," an intermedia installation that incorporates radio transmitters, audio equipment and the air-conditioning system of the building, will continue to grow and change while this exhibit is on display.

The delicate transparency, lightness and fragility of Madeline Sšder's vessel "Embraced" and

figure "Embracing," made entirely of skeletal bodhi leaves, will also change over time. "These pieces are about life and death," Sšder says. "They aren't going to last forever. They are going to go back to the earth." In the meantime, even the currents of air from a passer-by can move the extra-large leafed vessel into a dance.

There is much to contemplate in this exhibit. In many aspects, it is both an end and a beginning. Considering that the master's degree is a credential that will allow these students to teach at a secondary level in a job market that is not particularly promising adds another level to this exhibit. What does the future hold for artists? How many will be able to survive as artists and continue to exhibit their work? A favorable outcome depends, in part, on our steadfast support and participation in the arts and art programs.

Gallery 'Iolani is hosting the Statewide Community College

•	Statewide Community College Student Exhibition Through Saturday 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday Gallery 'Iolani Windward Community College Kane'ohe 235-7346

The students, from community colleges throughout the Islands continue to demonstrate a thoughtful approach to their selected media. The works on display offer a wide range of content and technique through painting, drawing, photography and ceramics. Some students are represented by more than one work.

The jurors' selection for best in show was Simone F. Sinopoli's photo/digital print "Paradise Interrupted." She also won an honorable mention for a heart-rending photo/digital work titled "Life and Death."

Best two-dimensional and a Provost Award were given to Kathleen Tomilson for her charcoal drawing "Homer" (which looked like a three-dimensional head). And best 3-D was awarded to Garrett Chaves for his whimsical ceramic "and you thought the moon was ..." a construction of mice feasting on a wheel of Swiss cheese.

Running alongside the exhibit is the annual "A Christmas Fantasy" event, which offers for sale original artwork and craft items created by Windward Community College students and their friends. Proceeds support the gallery program.