Posted on: Thursday, July 29, 2004
Ceramic collaboration crosses oceans of tradition
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
Twenty-two ceramic artists from the Pacific and Asia — faculty and graduate students — are putting the finishing touches on their creations this week as they wrap up the sixth annual Asia/ Pacific Ceramics Student Workshop at the University of Hawai'i.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser "People really start sharing with each other," said Wolfe, who launched the series in 1995 as the East-West Ceramics Collaboration to bring together world-class artists.
The results have been profound, she said. For instance, graduate student Momoko Usami of Japan was affected by Australian professor Joanne Searle's approach to surface decoration. Usami said her own work had focused on clay form, but watching Searle made her realize the importance of the surface, which will affect her future direction.
Chen Ying, a graduate student from China who works almost exclusively in that country's blue-and-white underglaze tradition, said she was making a conscious effort to do things differently. The workshop environment gave her "license to break away from her normal style," Wolfe said.
An exhibition of collaborative work by students and faculty will be on display Aug. 23-27 in the UH Art Department's Commons Gallery, near the Main Gallery. The pieces will be for sale, with proceeds going to support a workshop next year. This year's workshop includes artists from Hawai'i, South Korea, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Australia and Japan.
The focus this year was "Ceramics for use: A new perspective." Wolfe said she wanted the artists to think about function, "although not in ways that are traditional." A student from Taiwan created a women's urinal, a sculptural piece that could be plumbed as a fountain.
The workshop was financed with a donation from Cho Tae-Kwon, chairman of KwangJuYo, a Korean company instrumental in reviving traditional Korean ceramic tableware, and the East Asia Council at UH.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
The workshops' strength, said founder and leader Suzanne Wolfe, a University of Hawai'i art professor, is collaboration among the artists and the inspiration they offer one another.
Graduate student Arn Krebs, left, and visiting instructor Inchin Lee from Korea look over finished pieces at the UH Art Building.
Meanwhile, UH graduate student Mark Henderson was struck by the work of Taiwanese graduate student Chang Ho-Min and the way he integrated two-dimensional graphic design on the surface of a three-dimensional form.
Ceramics exhibit
