ART
Photographer's pictures of Nepal stirring, spiritual

By Victoria Gail-White
Advertiser art critic

If you are home for the holidays but wishing you weren't, you can journey to two magical places by route of your imagination, through the eyes of photographer Chick Alsop and the participants in George Woollard's painting workshop in Italy — both on exhibit.

"Millet Thresher" is among the photographs taken by Chick Alsop during his trips to Nepal that are on display through Dec. 30 at the Canon Photo Gallery on Ward Avenue. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Forty-five photographs, some as large as 20 by 30 inches, cover the walls in the Canon gallery. There is an immediate sense of place. Surrounded by Nepalese hill people with clear eyes, tattered clothes and unpretentious expressions, we are reminded of our excesses, attachments and taken-for-granted conveniences. The snow-covered Himalayas appear to corroborate heaven. It is a humbling experience just standing there in the gallery.

All of the images were taken with a 35mm camera and enlarged from slides.They have not been digitally manipulated or enhanced. Alsop, a self-taught photographer, believes in the straight photograph. The art of capturing an extraordinary moment on film has become his passion.

His journal entries are both lyrical and informative: "Mighty Stupa on the hill/Where bells ring and monkeys play/While round and round prayer wheels spin/ As pilgrims circle ..."

"Nepal is the home of the most prominent Hindu temple and the heart of Tibetan Buddhism," he says. "I take a long walk to the temple daily. It is not all about mountaineering and trekking. Nepal is a spiritual place. I defy anybody to stop and not see some sign of Hinduism or Buddhism. It is everywhere." Alsop's images are thoughtful and reverent as are his brief descriptions of both religions.

Alsop's eye swings from the overwhelming to the modest in his Annapurna Mountain trek photographs. There, atop a peak, prayer flags flutter, sending blessings out to all sentient beings. Images of a monk's blessings, yaks on trails and local teahouse lodgings (the deluxe $2 breakfast consists of eggs, barley, porridge, bread and hot chocolate) make the athletic endeavor (climbing a mountain that is over 26,000 feet high) more humane.

Alsop has been to Nepal four times since 1998. "The people are what I go back for," he says. "They are very refreshing. What you see is what you get." His images attest to that.

"Sherpani Woman, Dingboche Village, Everest 2002" is a photo evocative of a painting. In it an elderly woman holds on her back a bundle of straw bigger than she is. Her face is exquisite in its strength and ease. She is not beaten down by her burden. Her eyes are piercing yet compassionate, her hands dirtied by the day's work.

Alsop plans to return to Nepal this spring (for his recommended dose) and will bring a copy of the photo of the Sherpani woman with him. He says he knows where to find her. "I have a high success rate of finding people," he says. Bringing back copies of these photographs on his return trips has become another aspect of his travels in which he takes great pleasure.

He says after three weeks he returns home to Hawai'i a different person, with his life in its proper perspective. With any luck, after gazing at his images and reading his comments, you might be inspired to do the same: slow down and count your blessings.

If your tastes gravitate toward hilltop towns, vineyards, olive trees, Etruscan ruins and watercolor sketches, then the "La Bella Figura 2002" show, featuring the work of thirteen of George Woollard's students (assisted by Chuck Davis) will cheer your heart.

Artists' sketches, made during a visit to Italy with George Woollard, are on display in the Academy Art Center at Linekona. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

"I need to clarify something: It is not a tour," Woollard says. "It is a focused thing. My feeling is to hit the ground running. We are not there to sightsee, tour or shop. It is a creativity retreat."

On this retreat, Linda Bachrach, Julie Bower, Norma Crowell, Mada Ganslen,Myra Kent, Ron Kent, Gallyn, Kelly Kim, Tom Marshall, Jerry Mayfield, Linda Spadaro, Harue Summersgill and Debbie Young painted individually and collaboratively.

"Another person might paint your painting for you — as your hands and eyes. Or, we might pair off and paint on the same painting or paint as a group," says Woollard, who feels that this process breaks down all sense of possessiveness and "having tightness about the work." It is all about loosening up and accessing imaginative and creative energies.

Woollard also included the work of a 14-year-old Italian boy, Massimo, because he feels the whole experience becomes a sense of unification. Massimo's family owns the inn in which the group lodged; it's been in the family since the 14th century.

"Being there makes everyone feel like family," Woollard said. "The Italian culture is so old. There is a sense of being immersed in thousands of years of history. We become part of that on this retreat. We are walking in the footsteps of ancestors that have created art for thousands of years. It has a liberating factor, and it is a connection."

A central display case houses a number of the sketchbooks of the participants. During their three weeks in Italy, most of the artists sketched their way through four 9- by 12-inch (or smaller) sketchbooks with watercolors and water-soluble pencils and crayons.

Surprisingly, the gallery walls are not completely filled with representational sketches of architecture and flora. There is also a collection of abstract paintings on display. "Art has a need for abstraction," Woollard says. "It is elemental. As a teaching tool, it illustrates structure. It can be a means of getting where you want to go in an art piece."

Woollard and Davis teach at the Academy Art Center. Woollard has been guiding art retreats for 10 years.

The exhibit gives the trip closure and perspective. "If you do a bunch of artwork, it has to be shown," Woollard says. "Art is a communication medium, no different from writing, music or dance. If it is not shared, you have not completed the process. Art is a useful thing to do. You are doing something to make life more interesting or enjoyable."

This reviewer agrees and wishes you all creative and art-filled holidays.