As the school year winds down, the University of Hawai'i art student shows go up.

Today, "Axis: BFA Show '06" opens in the Manoa campus Art Gallery. As technology evolves, so do the works on view. Alongside painting, sculpture, photography, fiber works, prints, glass pieces and ceramics are video installations, digital imagery and animation.

"The BFA show is a chance for students to develop ideas, conceptualize and produce work they might normally not create," said exhibition designer Wayne Kawamoto in a written statement. "They've taken advantage of the gallery space" with large floorto-ceiling installation work. Making use of the 14-foot-high ceiling, Jon Vongvichai is suspending ceramic vessels in a dark room.

Paintings are incorporated into larger conceptual works, and photography students use their prints in dimensional pieces.

On view at Windward Community College's Gallery 'Iolani is "Transparency," glasswork from the UH-Manoa's glass program.

The physically demanding art yields seductive objects — glassworks are the Ali Baba jewels of art.

Glassblowing instructor Rick Mills has founded sort of a glass-blowing dynasty. The work is by his current and former students, as well as himself. Pieces range from the two-dimensional work of Robert Drew to the more sculptural work of Robert Reed, and from the large, kiln-formed work of Jessica Picone to small, detailed pieces by James Stayley.

"The greatest attribute of glass can also be its most formidable stigma: transparency," said Mills in a written statement. "When the material is innately so beautiful, what is left for the artist to do? Deny it, question it, embellish it or cherish it? This is the challenge that each of these artists has at their core and is bound together by the strength of their concepts."