For the children of successful artists, going into the family business might seem like the obvious choice. But those who have watched Sean Lennon follow in the footsteps of his famous father and mother, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, or director Sofia Coppola follow father Francis Ford Coppola, know that it is a path fraught with immediate comparisons and big expectations.

Despite these hurdles, the choice comes naturally to Miho Morinoue, daughter of Big Island-based artists Hiroki Morinoue and Setsuko Watanabe Morinoue. Work from all three family members is featured in a show at The Contemporary Museum's downtown exhibition space at First Hawaiian Center.

The exhibition, split between the three artists, features Hiroki's softly abstracted canvases, Setsuko's hard-edged architectural vases and Miho's multimedia studies of bed and sleep.

Father and husband Hiroki Morinoue is perhaps the most well-known of the three. The Hawaii-born artist received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at California College of the Arts in the Bay Area (then known as California College of Arts and Crafts) before moving to Japan to study woodblock printing. In 1994, Hiroki and wife Setsuko were instrumental in founding the Holualoa Foundation for Arts and Culture and today serve as volunteer directors for the organization.

Hiroki's works are the most varied in the exhibition. While his early work was restricted to watercolor on paper, he gradually introduced oil painting and printmaking, and recently has worked in media from ceramic wall pieces to phone books.

Curator Inger Tully, given free license to choose and place the artists' piece, selected a sampling of Hiroki's work from the past two decades. The softly abstracted, nature-inspired woodcuts Hiroki has produced in abundance are well-represented, as are his Japanese aesthetic-influenced, layered acrylic paintings on wood.

More surprising is Hiroki's portraiture series, tucked into the upstairs hallway. In his "I am an " series from 2006-07, he tiles small drypoint and woodcut prints of his friends' faces into a grid. The images are done in extreme close-up, cropping away even jaw lines and hair lines. The remaining facial structure is abstracted and although the faces are still recognizable, the overall effect is one of anonymity. These portraits are together overlaid with a large male or female symbol, similar to those found on the doors of restrooms, as if to state exactly what the title leaves unfinished.

Setsuko Watanabe Morinoue is a study in consistency compared to her husband. Born in Japan, Setsuko explored photography and then kusaki-zome (painting with natural dyes) in her early work, becoming immersed in clay only after moving to Hawaii in the 1970s.

The exhibition highlights Setsuko's numbered, ceramic "Architectural Vases." Arranged in small clusters, the vessels create dynamic compositions with their hard, angular rims. Their interiors are a rich black, after Toshiko Takaezu's signature black glaze. The exteriors are glazed with subtle, multicolor splashes, and etched with patterns of wave lines.

In their minimalist simplicity, the vases manage to tower beyond their mere inches, recalling the undulating architecture of a Frank Gehry roofline, and guide the viewer's eye through the negative space between their walls.

Although grouped, the vases are thought of as individual works by the artist. Ambiguous titles — "Architectural Vase 0709" or "Architectural Vase 1609," for example — refer merely to their general category and creation timeline. The imposition of any additional narrative is left solely in the hands of the viewer.

Shown beside her parents, Miho Morinoue steals the scene. Her mixed-media works all revolve around themes of the bed, bedroom and sleep, using materials that include oil paint, gouache, watercolor, acrylic and latex. A successful dancer who toured with the Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company, Miho created many of her works at night as the rest of the world slept.

In "Heart of Gold II: Pentimenti" of 2008, her cousin's bed, wrap- ped in purple sheets, is suspended from the ceiling, floating in front of a window of gold-yellow sunlight. To complete the painting, Miho used tape to partition the large wood panel into 800 small squares, painting each in acrylic. The resulting variations in color create a dappled, almost computerized appearance. The layered tonality is taken one step further with rich underpainting.

Certain threads are common to all three Morinoue artists — repeated use of grid patterns, the soft tonalities of a muted color palette, and delicate composition balance. But the exhibit is more accurately considered a study of difference than one of direct lineage. Each of the Morinoues is shown as setting off on his or her own distinct artistic path. Although these paths have occasional points of convergence, they primarily work to showcase each family member as a uniquely talented artist.