Collaborative framework offers art group freedom within form

By Victoria Gail-White
Advertiser Art Critic

•	9x8 Nine pieces each by eight artists Through Sept. 12 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays Koa Gallery, Kapi'olani Community College

The membership of the group has changed over the years, but the challenge and goals remain the same. Eight women are continuing the tradition currently, and the venue for their recent works is the refurbished Koa Gallery.

Bobby Crockett, one of the original six, is the "soul of the group who keeps us together," said fellow artist Linda Gué. Crockett's series of digital prints are thoughtful abstract compositions with bursts of color and layered textures that tickle our eyes.

"Sky Lab" has color fields of cerulean blue and magenta with a section of fence that looks as if it were made of opals. "Watching" has the trompe l'oeil affect of embossing, while the color indigo and the white forms in "Sea Basket" appear to be part of an old Japanese print collection.

"I layer the color with textures and shadows," said Crockett, "and I make my own textures on the computer."

Crockett spent many years as a silkscreen artist and is now hooked on digital printmaking. "I love working digitally," she said. "It is easy for me to make choices — which is good — because this process requires somebody who can make a lot of choices. It's not messy and you don't have to breathe fumes."

She said the women meet a few times a year to discuss the logistics of the show. This year, they decided to scale down the work for the gallery space and quantity of pieces they wanted to exhibit.

Linda Gué has a history of working in a small-scale format. Previously employed by a firm that made models of architectural designs, she constructs meticulous miniatures. For this show, she decided to explore the idea of taking a line and creating volume.

"Overlapping lines can go from two-dimensional to three-dimensional pretty quickly," she said.

"I liked working very directly in a low-tech approach, loosely weaving the wire over a form."

Gué appreciates being part of the group because creating nine pieces gives her an opportunity to explore a theme and work through an idea.

A few of her colored-wire vessels are evocative of jellyfish and are displayed to full advantage against the back wall of the gallery, where the directed light makes beautiful lacy shadows and accentuates the forms.

Although original member Denise DeVone no longer lives in Hawai'i (she moved to New Jersey), she continues to contribute to the exhibits. Her series of paintings, "The East Wing" (acrylic on linen), have a narrative quality, although it's not exactly clear what the plot is — unless not knowing what anyone is doing is the story.

Each painting takes place in impressive corridors with figures engaged in various activities (a priest holding a gun, a man swan-diving out of a window, a woman in a lab coat staring up at the ceiling, men in suits, three young men playing football). The arched doorways and windows form a bridge between their seemingly disconnected activities.

Nine handmade paper collages make up Elizabeth Train's "Puzzling Pathways" series. Shaped like pieces of a puzzle, they incorporate floral and animal shapes. Numerous applications of brightly colored paper pulp give Train's work a youthful quality. "Nest in the Heavens" and "Tree of Life" are expressions of innocence and wonder.

A phone call was the inspiration for Laura Smith's series of woodcut and relief collage star books — accordion-paged books made to resemble a star when displayed standing up. Her mother was moving and wanted to know if Smith wanted a 50-year-old wedding gift book.

"What struck me," said Smith, "was how modest most of the presents were. Their wedding took place after World War II, and that might explain the modesty of the presents."

The wedding gifts are represented in each of the nine star-shaped books. Bound, sewn and printed in subdued colors, they represent the household: spice for life, six juice glasses, bride and groom fork, bride's cake platter and more.

Radiating from each cover are woodcut prints of a bridal gown and tuxedo.

"The whole thing was a challenge," said Smith. "I had to sequence eight images in the eight-page structure of the book and have them all relate to each other."

The simplicity of the theme, printing techniques and color combinations give this series a delightful charm. Smith fuels the basic principles with elegance and flair and turns a "Single French Cup" into a treasured tome.

A journal of nine painted postcards that were mailed to the Koa Gallery represent Jinja Kim's contribution. Hung in the window so they can be viewed from both sides, they contain painted, collaged and text elements.

"I am in the habit of doing these postcards on my trips," said Kim. "The fact that they are stamped and sent through the mail — handled by people — is all part of the art. It gives it a spontaneous, fresh quality."

Typically, she mails the postcards to her dog, Lala May, who seems to enjoy sniffing them.

"The text is part of the image," she said, "and the image is a form of language. For me, it works together. Of course, the image is up for interpretation."

The series is untitled. However, some of the text reads, "He is going somewhere/Tonight I will get drunk/child of my heart/tomorrow is another day"

"She doesn't yet know that she doesn't belong to herself." One can only imagine what it might be like to receive one of these cards in the mail, with images such as Frida Kahlo's head on a healthy robust nude female body, a newborn baby, fields of textured watercolor and abstract elements. Fun.

Kate Whitcomb's mixed-media assemblages incorporate a variety of objects: beads, transistors, jig-saw puzzle pieces, coins. Set in miniature television-like frames, they display a lively juxtaposition of colors and shapes. However, it is the uncomplicated "God speaks in wondrous ways and places!" that stands out. A neutral-colored frame holds a small driftwood crucifix surrounded by sand particles.

This is the first time Reiko Brandon has exhibited with the group. Her series, "Celebration 3 Squared," incorporates a precise placement and treatment of Maplewood blocks and handmade paper. Three consecutive rows of simple wood blocks arranged singularly and in stacks of two and three are embellished with white and red papers — some painted with black ink — and tied with red and white twisted paper twine. Order manages to emerge from the asymmetry.