Movement inspires interactive exhibits for public

By Victoria Gail-White
Advertiser Art Critic

•	'The Mechanics of Motion': Corinne Kamiya, Jason Minami, and Daniel Rosen Extended through April 19 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays The ARTS at Marks Garage 1159 Nu'uanu Ave.

A trio of artists who met while studying at the University of Hawai'i decided to focus on the concept of movement in their media and began creating pieces for the exhibit a year ago.

In the beginning stages of working with flux-molten metal in Corrine Kamiya's bronze kinetic sculptures, liquid glass and metal in Jason Minami's cast glass and bronze sculptures, and soft clay in the ceramic vessels of Daniel Rosen, they developed their own personal chemistry in the organic process of working collectively. Committed to a shared work ethic, they found a voice that clearly articulates the intention of motions (molding, forging, spinning) that take place while creating artworks. On opening night they invited the public to join in their discoveries, interacting with the materials they provided.

That night clanged with the mechanics of noise (their hand-made musical instruments were played on glass, bronze and clay) so one could hear what their media sounded like when struck with mallets and hands. It smashed with the mechanics of destruction (clay and glass objects were made to be broken for a small fee or kept, depending on the temperament of the buyer). And it soothed with the mechanics of reconstruction (wherein the broken items were made part of a mosaic). And so the mechanics of motion came full circle — from the pounding, smashing sounds to the quiet resolution. The interactive part of the exhibit is finished but the work of this talented trio remains.

Daniel Rosen began his ceramic training in Japan and, after a decade of studying there, realized two things: that his work is always functionally based, and he wasn't satisfied with the rigidity of the tradition.

"I really love vessels," says Rosen. "So even if I start doing things that aren't functional I feel that they always call back to the vessel. In this show, I am trying to capture movement in still form. When people look at my work, they can see where I have tugged on it and where it collapsed on itself."

His series of large "Oval Jars in Flux" (which as he said could be part of Dr. Seuss's furniture) create a strong illusion of motion if you shift your eyes slightly because they appear off balance.

"The ones to me that are the most beautiful," says Rosen "are the ones that look like they are about to fall down ... but they're not."

Rosen's experience of motion continues in the raking and hand-worked designs of his series of light turquoise and gray-glazed tall columns, pyramids and a wall of platters. The platters incorporate brushwork over-glazes and cut-out forms backed by mirrors to reflect the light and movement of passersby.

"Iroke," a four-foot-tall jar that was "kissed by the kiln" (in Rosen's words), was made in three sections. Because of the right reduction in the firing process, the light turquoise glaze is perfectly shaded with tans and browns and evokes a sense of spinning.

Corrine Kamiya's bronze sculptures, although intimate in their small scale and lyrical in subject matter, are monumental in their impact. What on first glance appears whimsical, on further discovery becomes profound. "On Completeness" is an exquisite figure of two women, connected by their backs and supporting limbs. Neither figure is complete without the other and yet, according to Kamiya, it is a piece about connecting the front and back of ourselves. But it is also a powerful and tender statement about the female gender as a whole. This sculpture would translate beautifully in a larger format as it is compelling from every angle.

In her other pieces, small bronze-sculpted bees on wires fly out of the mouth of a woman in flight ("About Lightness") or out of the hand of a hanging woman ("The Hang Man," inspired by the rebirth symbolism of the eponymous Tarot card). Bees move in circular flight with the winding of a crank in "Bee Machine No. 1" or the force of your breath in "Bee Machine No. 2," or lie dead under a tomb revealed only by cranking the attached crane construction in "The Bee Tomb."

"The bees for me are from a time of innocence," says Kamiya. "I grew up in Kane'ohe, and there were always bees around. We had one hive and used to make honey. They are connected to the magical and dream-like inspirations of my childhood."

Jason Minami's works in cast glass and metal appear to have been made for kings and knights during the Middle Ages. They would be perfectly at home in a castle. The fact that his titles are in Latin only reinforces this fantasy.

His lance-like "Versare" incorporates three dimensions. A polished bronze ball in the middle reflects outside light and movement and plays off the reflected layers of the two-sided metal teeth that swirl up around the ball. Long bird-beak spears pierce the upper and lower sections of the sculpture and give it that ready-for-jousting look.

And this bird-beak theme also appears in Minami's life-sized "Tollere," a bronze, steel and cast glass sculpture. "In this piece, " says Minami, "I was focusing on the laws of motion — each action has an opposite reaction." The yin and yang quality of the opposite compositions used in the mynah bird-like beaks force the eyes to move to complete the flow of imaginary lines.

Minami uses the theme of eyes, movement and color in his sculptures "Oculus," "Diffundere," "Effulgere" and "Augere."

"It is easy to see glass as a functional form," says Minami, "but I am trying to push glass in the direction of a sculptural form and push the scale of it."