REGENERATE! Contemporary Book Arts in Hawaii
In 2019, I co-curated “REGENERATE! Contemporary Book Arts in Hawaii” exhibition with Thad Higa while still living in the Island of Oahu.
Venue: Donkey Mill Art Center (78-6670 Mamalahoa Hwy, Holualoa)
Exhibit: August 31-October 12, 2019
Opening: September 7, 6-8pm
Exhibition Statement:
Books were once thought of as vehicles for symbols, but in an age of intermedia, artists are broadening its scope. Today, book arts investigates form, conceit, conversations between image, text, and the turning of the page in time and space. Through continual exploration, the book of yesteryear has transformed into conceptual book, performance book, concrete book, sculptural book, illustrative book, assemblage book, art object book, found book, comic book, design book, photography book, altered book, and many other forms. REGENERATE! is a survey exhibit of contemporary Book arts in Hawaiʻi. More than thirty artists who utilize a variety of mediums and binding techniques were invited to participate in REGENERATE! These books explore the relationship between humans and nature, family history and personal stories grounded in the Hawaiian Islands, racial and cultural identities, contemporary cultures and voices of the Pacific, the power of words and symbols, and more. Many of them blur the lines of images and text, interweaving, interfering, literary and visual art. Each work within challenges the old forms, expanding the potential of the book.
MEDIA FEATURE: “What is a Book? Think Again!” by Noe Tanigawa via Hawaii Public Radio. Click HERE to listen to the interview and read the article.
INSTALLATION PICTURES
NATURE WITHIN
In 2010 and 2011, I curated Nature Within exhibition which featured works by more than twenty international photographers and was showcased at 25CPW and Ise Cultural Foundation in New York City.
Exhibition Venues:
25 CPW Gallery (25 Central Park West at 62nd Street, NYC)
Exhibit: Oct 14 – Oct 28, 2010
Opening: Oct 15, 6-9 pm
Meet the artists: Oct 17, 2-5 pm
Photo credit: Christian Erroi
Ise Cultural Foundation’s Front Space (555 Broadway, NYC)
Exhibit: June 3 – July 1, 2011
Opening: June 3, 5:30-7:30 pm
Exhibition Statement:
Nature Within features the recent works of twenty three photographers from diverse backgrounds comprising eleven different countries. Their photographic genre ranges from documentary and photojournalism to conceptual and all have had their prior works featured in galleries throughout the world.
In a world and society faced with monumental environmental issues and crises, our concern for nature grows by the day. This concern and cognizance of the gravity of the problem are at odds with society’s needs to keep up with our increasing population and big businesses’ desire to increase the bottom line. Nature Within is an exhibition that attempts to rethink our relationship and existence within nature. The exhibition takes us to a personal space and place embedded within our experience with it.
Many of the photographs in the exhibition do not have an overt human presence. In the subject matter, however, there are trace elements of society. Some photographs were taken on a familiar American city street or local park, while others were taken in places as geographically distant as Bolivia, Israel and South Korea. Whether the photographers produced work locally or while traveling abroad, nature is omnipresent in the photographs, and the images unveil how we live within it and in respond to its power.