'Personalities' surveys humanity's highs, lows

"Personality is the supreme realization of the innate idiosyncrasy of a living being. It is a high act of courage flung in the face of life, the absolute affirmation of all that constitutes the individual, the most successful adaptation to the universal conditions of existence coupled with the greatest possible freedom for self-determination."

By Victoria Gail-White
Advertiser Art Critic

•	Multiple Personalities: The Human Landscape 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday through Sept. 28 Academy Art Center at Linekona 1111 Victoria St.

Three years ago, Winters and Ed Love designed the show to be a "stretch" for themselves and the participating artists. Their intention was to create a common landscape, using growth, angst, love, death and redemption as signposts. They selected and invited a diverse group of sculptural artists. They also designed the installation and pedestals to enhance the experience of viewing the areas of common landscape.

The exhibit is dedicated to Winters. Months into the planning of this exhibit, Winters was diagnosed with cancer of the lymphatic system and died shortly before it opened.

In artistically exploring the complexity of life's journey, life began to imitate art. Within the three-year journey, new artists were added to those who remained from the initial group. Two deaths and two babies later, they reached the summit, and "Multiple Personalities: The Human Landscape" is the artists' triumph.

The installation is exquisite. The many configurations of pedestals create a landscape of their own, in that they offer several different viewing planes for the sculptural objects. The large gallery is separated into five landscape areas, taking the observer on a walk-about through poignant sculptural expressions. Each artist contributed one piece to each of the five areas.

Berenberg, an oncologist by day, says, "As a physician who takes care of a lot of dying patients, I think death should be considered as part of life and a good experience." His "Pax Vobiscum" is a serene series of clay boats floating on a sea of gravel. "The different sizes reflect longer or shorter lives," he says. "I see it as directional; we are all headed that way."

In "Burnt Offering" he departs from his clay medium with a mixed-media tower of books (referencing being lost and being saved), toasters, and S&H saving stamp booklets. His wit governs this light-hearted exploration of redemption.

Rhinoceroses have been part of Murchison's work for the past decade. For her, they exemplify man's careless and often cruel treatment of wild animals. Her five untitled clay sculptures address endangered species using the rhino as a metaphor for her human landscape.

The sculptures for the angst section were given size limitations:

8 inches by 8 inches by 8 inches. This part of the exhibit was designed to have the sculptures low and almost hidden inside two semi-circles. In Murchison's sculpture, a small graveyard of rhino heads on poles and scattered rhino horns juxtapose white heads and horns against a dark clay ground, giving this piece an eerie ghost-town appearance.

Murchison became frustrated in the process of putting this show together. "I questioned if it was worth it," she says. "But I learned that it can be done, and it takes cooperation. Each talented person in the group contributed. Look at the beautiful pieces Jim Winters made when he knew he was dying. Yes, it was worth everything."

Each artist also did a collaborative piece, as well as the five human landscape sections. However, the only thing that was collaborative about it is the size restriction and mountainous shape. These pieces are installed outside the entrance to the gallery.

Murchison says that her piece should have been titled, "Rock and a Hard Place," but she left town and forgot to title her sculptures. The dark Stonehenge-like trio of clay rocks has a stack of white rhino heads and bones dramatically piled between the center crack. The piece exudes the elegant yet primitive strength of Murchison's principles as well as her sculptural talents.

"A friend told me to think of taking death out to dinner and a movie," Izumi says, and that was her inspiration for "Playing Games with Death." In it, a distorted, puffed-up clay pony appears to be chasing a distorted, puffed-up skeletal pony. "Death doesn't have to be all scary," she says.

Izumi is known for her sense of humor and her rather freaky mixed-media animals — combinations of clay stitched and embellished with wire. However, in her bittersweet sculpture for the love landscape section, "The Sideshow Infanta Takes a Chance on Love," she constructed a woman's torso with two black birds and an apple perched on her head. "She is waiting for you to throw the knife," Izumi says, "and either hit her or hit the apple. She can't run away because she doesn't have legs."

One year into the planning of the show, Lum's mother died. This, coupled with the illness and death of Winters, put her in a vulnerable position. "The bonus in putting in all those years on the exhibit," she says, "was that we all became good friends." The group became a great support system.

Initially, she had a more somber piece made for the death landscape section. "Then I thought of another version," she says, "and decided to make the 'Freespirit' piece that reflects the next phase of death. You are free of your body. The things my mother loved — cherry blossoms, trees, dragonflies, butterflies and birds — would be in infinity with her. I don't think of her as sick anymore."

Atop a grouping of clouds, a face and coil form a figure eight affixed with flora, birds and insects. Asian art symbols appear in many of Lum's sculptures.

In Lum's "Redemption," swans sleep in the snow curled around a spirit figure. "Even though man has destroyed much of the swan's natural habitat there is still a chance for them to survive," she says. "They survive the winter and so do we. Life renews itself."

The themes in Uyehara's wood sculptures revolve around the differences between Asian and Western cultures. She has been working with wood lately (instead of her usual clay or fiber) because she feels that working in a variety of media helps to keep her work fresh. Focused on working within her ecological limits, she uses pieces of wood that have been discarded by fellow artists.

"Uneven Rhythms" is her totem to growth. The 83-inch-tall sculpture is a tower split between the symbols of two cultures. From the puddle-like bottom (reminiscent of a lotus growing out of the mud) and vertical ladder-like shape (suggestive of growing and the passage of time), this sculpture is a feat of architectural and aesthetic perfection.

In "Treaties on the Subject of Love," Uyehara piles a sliced-out fruit with a heart seed (that both sprouts a magnolia blossom and has a nail going through it) on top of a cutting edge. "I remember what Mother Teresa said," she says, "that 'all love is pain.' True growth and enlightenment comes from all that pain and suffering." She thinks that the actuality of this show is a miracle in itself.

Yuasa's mixed-media sculptures of plastic toy and doll parts visually stretch the overall experience of this show. She clearly and comically communicates her views on the topic of growth in "Hind Sight," which incorporates a toy truck with a maze-like platform and an attached hand holding a mirror at the back. "L'Edge" is a tall Lego building with a ledge in the middle. The door on this ledge appears to have been opened by a little Lego man. At the end of the ledge is a white box that is attached to a grounded striped plastic parachute. Yuasa's work is lively and her materials innovative.

Winters' sculptures complete the show. He didn't survive long enough to attend the opening, but it is obvious, through his work, that he is there in spirit. His "Six Pack" (in the love landscape) is a reference to the six-pack of blood that was needed in his therapy. It is a testimony to the many donors who gave him blood.

"Michael's Boat" is a compelling statement on death. A black clay boat with seven supporting struts holds seven white rocks. The image is haunting. His collaborative effort, "Hidden Word," is a stunning, inside-outside open portrait with a black clay exterior and a gold interior.

As a social worker, Winters found inspiration for his work, and the concept of this exhibit, in the life experiences that identify us as individuals and connect us to humanity.

His friends are coordinating fund-raisers for an endowment fund through the Honolulu Academy of Arts in Winters' name.

A respected leader and exceptional talent in the local art community, Winters will not be forgotten. The Pegge Hopper Gallery will host an exhibit of his work that will open Oct. 3.

The highly narrative quality of this show provides wonderful opportunities for educators. The artists have provided educational guides for teachers (kindergarten through college level) that include activity lists, copyable worksheets and slides. For details, call Carol Khewhok's office at 532-8741 and leave a message.