Making Things Talk: Narrative and Representation at the Hawai'i Craftsmen's Annual Statewide Juried Exhibition

Group shows provide the curator with a unique set of challenges in any context. Among the questions raised: Is it better to choose the strongest individual works available, or to choose works based on a cohesive theme or framework? How do you choose and arrange disparate objects to create correspondences and dialogue? How can each of the works be exhibited to its strengths without overpowering another?

These sorts of questions become especially present in the case of a juried exhibition, as demonstrated in the Hawai'i Craftsmen's Annual Statewide Juried Exhibition for 2008. The exhibit, which features 69 artists working in media ranging from the traditional (such as clay, glass and wood) to the decidedly non-traditional (felted cat fur, fish skin, and even a dog tag), highlights the diversity of contemporary art and craft being made in Hawai'i.

Among the gems of the exhibit are Jacqueline Rush Lee's delicate non-books, Lynn Weiler Liverton's lava rock-turned-feline, Aaron Padilla's undulating wooden wall piece, Lori Uyehara's intricate wooden collages, and Carol Kouchi Yotsuda's beautifully-executed memory quilt.

In the show, Jacqueline Rush Lee exhibits a group of four stunning interpretations of the book form. These works in fiber recall the onion-skin, fit-in-the-palm-of-your-hand relics of antique prayer books or religious texts. They are temptingly tactile in their presentation and size. However, instead of filling their pages with text, Lee chooses to obliterate the word in favor of pure color. This obliteration necessitates intervention of the viewer: by removing any story or context, Lee invites us to create our own narrative.

Carol Kouchi Yotsuda also plays with narrative in her work Remnant Memories Captured in Thread, made using machine stitchery on fabric. The patchwork scenes of (presumably) her life's memories invite the viewer to connect point to point, filling in any gaps that may appear along the way. The form of the memory quilt recalls pop culture precedents such as the AIDS Memorial Quilt, as well as more biographical uses of the form such as Tracey Emin's infamous Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 tent with quilted appliqué. Yotsuda's quilted scenes are soothing in comparison, but nevertheless work in similar ways to draw the viewer into a patchwork of narrative.

Lee and Yotsuda both push their respective media to say something about the nature of narrative, memory and the concept of representation itself. The theme of media being pushed beyond their common craft framework echoes throughout the exhibit, as many of the artists' works invite the viewer to question the use of a traditional art/craft dichotomy.

Hawai'i Craftsmen's Annual Statewide Juried Exhibition was organized by the Hawaii Craftsmen and curated by Jan Peters of the Del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles. It was shown from October 11 through October 31, 2008 at the Academy Art Center at Linekona.