Monkeys live in art

By Victoria Gail-White
Special to The Advertiser

•	'Monkey Business' Noon-6 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays Noon-4 p.m., Sundays Through March 20 workspace 732-2300

Trailing along the limb of her fascination with the freakish, Izumi's "Saru Hime takes her dream on the road" is a ceramic figure of a woman with a monkey's face sitting on top of an alligator vehicle. The bright colors and liveliness of the piece contrast with her more subdued and Frankensteinish "Mermonkey," which is a matt blue-green color with the stitched head of a monkey mounted and stitched on top of a body with a fish-bone tail. The wire stitches in Izumi's clay-work suggest both the horror and creative genius in mankind's desire to recreate the world.

Lum's small ceramic sculptures "Pumpkin Monkey," "Gingko Monkey," "Going Bananas!" and "Friends!" are charmingly reminiscent of the "Curious George" children's book series. Their gestures and expressions are humorous and light-hearted.

"Monkey Talk" by S. Kay Mura is a wonderful conversation piece and features the infamous monkeys kikazaru, mikazaru and iwazaru (hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil). Quotes about monkeys are inscribed along the sides of this circular ceramic sculpture. One example is the Japanese proverb, "Even monkeys fall out of trees."

Roster's monkeys have been cast onto finger rings of various metals (silver, brass, gold, bronze, copper, etc.); the figure of a monkey is incorporated into the circular design.

Shoppell's "Plus Shipping Charges" is a ceiling-to-floor chain of laminated monkeys that appears to be made from the colorful pages of mail-order catalogs and magazines. We are caught with wondering whether the monkeys are going into the box that is close to the floor or coming out of the box en route to the ceiling.

"Mirrored Monkeys," by Maile Yawata, is an intriguing print of two monkeys looking at their reflection in a mirror. The monkey on the left is printed again in the reverse on the right side. This visual effect gives the piece a sense of timelessness; the monkeys are looking at their reflection in the mirror and looking at each other at the same time.