Is bigger necessarily better?

By Victoria Gail-White
Special to The Advertiser

•	'Synthesis 2004': BFA exhibit University of Hawai'i Art Gallery 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays 12:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday Through May 15 956-6888

But in some instances, the work seems undercooked, both in execution and concept, and a palpable tone of the "bigger, louder, better" syndrome prevails. This is unfortunate because some pieces in this exhibit are cooked to perfection — and more often than not, smaller is better.

Although installing a group exhibit should be a cooperative effort, this one had some problems. "It was difficult because there were so many big pieces," says Shou-Wang Ho, a member of the installation committee. "Some of the artists were hard to negotiate with, and some selected bright colors for backgrounds so it was necessary to adjust for that as well as the amount of space they required."

And whether the students realize it or not, in a group show such as this, some works can intrude upon others, particularly when they incorporate sound — making it difficult for the viewer to concentrate on individual pieces.

Intermedia student Todd Kingman's mixed-media piece "Untitled" has sound — big sound. "The focus here is on technology in art, a blending of different media," he says. His shortened, shiny red car with pointed blinking tail lights incorporates metal fabrication for the fenders and grill as well as fiberglass and sculptural elements. It has a keyboard, mouse and a screen that moves and changes liquid color images as 2,700 programmed songs play at random — an amazing endeavor. However, the volume and musical selection can be intrusive at times. Although the artist's intention was to be showy, and the piece is, providing headphones or even housing the work in its own parking garage would have been more considerate to fellow students.

Fellow Intermedia Program student Kris Ikegami's "Subject to Happiness" installation is sizeable. As you enter the gallery, it greets you with its yellowness. Three Viewmasters hang from a yellow arc of artificial flowers against a bright yellow back wall. If you sit on the gold-painted park bench and look into the Viewmasters, you will see three different series of images relating to Ikegami's concept of our limited view of happiness. In each, she has placed pairs of photographs to create three-dimensional images of people in various places wearing yellow painted dog collars. "These are the same kind of collars that you put on dogs so that they can not lick the wounds around their heads," she says. Ikegami was awarded the Diane Sullivan Memorial Scholarship.

Nathan Apffel, also an Intermedia program student, received the Fuji Film Scholarship award. His bizarre and humorous series of chromogenic prints titled "Fant-ri-cide" are evocative of the cinematic genre of the 80s. "These are movie-media generated characters," he says. "Fant-ri-cide:1989" is a staged photograph of a woman in a house dress and apron outside in a yard with a Hoover, vacuuming a large cactus. Apffel intends to pursue his studies and a career in photography.

Photography program's Sara Fisher presents a series of classic silver-gelatin paper negative and black-and-white prints of leaves and flowers titled "Balance."

Glass Programs student Dawne E. Tsuha's "Awaken" and "Tucked Away" are captivating in their concept and combinations of glass, brass and cast bronze.

Reiko Trow's ceramic "When Dreams Become Reality — They Take Flight" is beautifully installed in front of a window that frames the bamboo garden. In a 12-by-12-foot space she has installed 196 ceramic (slip-cast) whitish pairs of wings from the rafters with fishing line. "The installation took almost two weeks," says Trow. "You can move through it, there is a path, but people need to find their own way." According to Trow, the sun's angle at 3 o'clock casts beautiful shadows on the floor. The sense of movement is delightful.

Maren Mosier was given the Award for Excellence in Ceramics. Her "Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog's Tails" ceramic and mixed media triptych was only a diptych on opening day. The works present included small, delicate translucent white panels (imprinted with nursery rhymes) affixed to a red-glowing light box. The panels surround the recessed shrine interiors. In this presentation, the rhymes become prayer-like.

The work of Graphics Design program graduates Jamie Caseb ("Imprint/Storage"), Robert Mangoang ("A Survey on Charlie Fisher's Commercial 'Child's Play'") and Jeff Sanner ("Inner Cartography") are memorable.

In the Printmaking program, Eric Keli'i Beyer's "Deconstruct to Reconstruct" is an insightful interactive piece with 636 questions. You are encouraged to take a newsprint paper with Beyer's views about questioning the constructs of society along with one of 1,893 squares of overlapping cards that hang from the rows of this colorful rendition of the Hawaiian ahupua'a system. There is a question behind each card. Incorporating a number of printing techniques Beyer has also included another work underneath.

Erika Johnson's "Chasing Tails" (constructed screen and lithographic prints) is refreshingly comical.

Cassandra Locke's "Living Waikapu" is a multilayered screen print on various media. Light and shadows filter through it suggesting the layers of memory.

Although Jee Suk Chong won an outstanding-student award for painting, her piece titled "Inching Towards Insanity" is more of a floor-to-ceiling paint-by-yarn installation. Originally, it was not meant to be interactive. However, at this time she would like to encourage viewers to throw one of the multi-colored looped knots of yarn onto one of the 2,100 pins. "I realized that this four-month project was a great experiment," she says. "I can go farther with it, make the work better."

Sculpture program graduate Corinne Kamiya's "Egocentric Cartography" is larger than most of the work she has exhibited in the past few years. It is comparable to her smaller work in that it is thoughtful, spindly and toy-like. The yellow paper airplanes add a playful element of chance.

There may be something in this exhibit for everyone, but as a whole, it poses some serious questions. Will the soulful, meditative art works of the past fade into the art playground of the future? Is the life of an artist one of upstaging and struggling for attention, or is it about genuine expression, individual exploration, vision and integrity?

The definition of the word "synthesis" implies combining constituent element of separate material or abstract entities into a single or unified entity — or a complex whole formed by combining. Given this definition, it is not clear whether the students have achieved their exhibit title's focus.

The Commons Gallery next door is featuring artwork from the recipients of the awards and scholarships. This exhibit includes graduates from the BFA and the MFA programs and runs through Friday.