Contemporary Craft Invitational opens Sept. 4

Master artisans will display their artwork during the Contemporary Craft Invitational at Wailoa Center’s Main Gallery starting Sept. 4.

The 19 artisans will show their work in the five disciplines of “craft”: ceramics, fiber, glass, metal and wood through Sept. 24 at the Hilo gallery. Participating are ceramic artists Clayton Amemiya, Will and Kate Jacobson and Esther Shimazu; fiber artists Phan Barker, Pam Barton and Emily DuBois; glass artists Hugh Jenkins and Stephanie Ross, Even Jenkins, and Michael and Misato Mortara; metal artists, Kirsten Eberly, Amy Flanders, Ethan Froney and Elizabeth Miller; and wood artists Tai Lake, Frank McClure and John Mydock.

The public is invited to a reception to meet the artists from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 4. Light refreshments will be served. Artists will also offer a talk/walk through the gallery from 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 18. Each talk/walk will begin on the hour.

Amemiya moved to the Big Island in 1976 to continue his journey as a seasoned craftsman who combines ancient firing techniques he learned in Okinawa, Japan, with his signature style. His ceramic processes begin with wheel-thrown and handmade forms. He wood fires the work using an anagama or semi-subterranean kiln. His main inspirations are Korean and Japanese pottery of the 15th and 16th centuries, specifically large Japanese storage jars and Korean rice bowls.

The Jacobson ceramic team believes everyone has a responsibility to listen and see the world with an open mind, challenge assumptions, imagine what could be, and communicate that truth. Their current work, “Pacific Rim,” is inspired by a growing awareness of climate change. Through art, they hope to raise awareness and celebrate the beauty and strength of the ocean that surrounds, nurtures and unites us all. The Jacobson’s, collaborating artists since 1979, are widely recognized as the innovators of naked raku and mica infusion. Both artists contribute to each piece of work, passing it back and forth so many times that it’s impossible to separate one element from another.

Shimazu was born and raised in Honolulu, where she attended public schools and the University of Hawaii at Manoa before heading to the University of Massachusetts where she received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine art. She is currently an Oahu studio artist and occasional teacher.

Barker’s abstract fiber sculptures, quilts and paintings made of silk, thread, beads and wood illustrate the beauty found internally as one tends to soul searching and spiritual discovery. Originally from Vietnam, Barker was born in Tu Chau, a Catholic Village north of Hanoi, and went south with her family at the time of partition in 1955. She came to the United States in 1969. After many years of travel and exploring her art, she moved to Volcano in 2000.

Barton has been studying, producing and exhibiting fiber works of art for more than 50 years. Her formal education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has been supplemented with studies in Japan, Indonesia, California, Tennessee and Hawaii. That’s in addition to working alongside notable artists from around the world, such as beating kapa at the Mona Bismarck in Paris and MOMA in New York, and making paper in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia. She is represented in several publications and her works are included in the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts public art collection. She currently works in her Volcano Studio and occasionally teaches workshops.

DuBois, who was born in 1946 in Honolulu, has her textiles, drawings, and mixed media works represented in the Hawaii State Foundation for Culture and the Arts, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museums, the M. H. de Young Museum, Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, the Aichi Shibori Archive in Nagoya, Japan, and many other collections worldwide. She has also received a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship along with many other awards for her work.

The husband and wife team of Jenkins and Ross has blown glass since 1999. They now collaborate in their home-based studio and present their work at the Big Island Glass Gallery in Honokaa. Jenkins and Ross work in response to surroundings, and reflect the ever-changing water, volcano, forest, landscape, and climate of the Big Island in their artwork. As a team, Ross guides the color composition and Jenkins carries out the physical side of handling the shape. Their unique works are represented in many private collections nationally and internationally.

Mortara was introduced to glass as a high school student and has worked in that medium for more than 35 years. He began his collaboration with his wife, Misato, while they were studying glass in Hawaii. In 1998, they began building a studio on the slopes of Kilauea, and in 2000 they moved to Volcano and began producing glass full-time. Their work has been included in the collections of Hawaii State Foundation of Culture and the Arts, Contemporary Museum of Honolulu, Hilton Hotels, the Four Seasons Resorts, the collection of the President of the French Republic of Reunion, and the National Park Service.

Eberly recently moved to the Big Island to evolve and expand her career as a fine art jewelry designer and educator. She designs original pieces incorporating traditional techniques, such as chasing and repousse, and uses a complex mix of fabrication skills to achieve a personal style in the meticulous detail of her work. She received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts in metals and jewelry design from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Pennsylvania along with teaching certification. She has exhibited work at The Tyler School of Art Gallery in Philadelphia, The Lomar Dodd School of Art in Athens, Ga., and in Cortona, Italy, among other exhibitions.

Flanders is a rock hound, stone cutter, and metal smith. Her work is largely “stone-centric” and often draws inspiration from the forms inherent within the stones used. All of her work is fabricated from sterling sheet, wire and tubing, which is sawed, hammered, drilled, ground, soldered, and polished by hand. None of her pieces or components are currently cast, and her textures are achieved by hammering, engraving, or using intense heat.

Froney is part of a small community of local craftsmen bringing cowboy traditions to modern visitors at Anna’s Ranch Heritage Center in Waimea. Blacksmithing was once a family business passed from father to son, but this modern smith learned the trade at a community college in Seattle. Froney moved to Hawaii three years ago and was doing sheet metal work when the ranch invited him to setup shop. In true blacksmith tradition, Froney forges some of his tools.

Miller began her art career in painting and has become adept in a variety of media during her 40 years of art making. She has become best known for her exquisitely rendered metal repousse work. Miller does not pound the metal or pour it into molds as people expect, but rather draws directly with wooden tools on sheets of 36 gauge aluminum, copper and brass. She stretches and shapes the metal into bas-relief patterns that are then cut and applied to the various sculptural forms she creates. This is a process she developed after being inspired by Mexican tin work, which led to experimenting with tooling metal she found at an art supply store. Her imagery reflects the spirit of the land, especially the birds and plants surrounding her studio and home in the Volcano Village.

Lake’s lifelong dedication to the study of woodworking and design began in his family’s construction business and was refined through study at Buckminster Fullers’ design department at Southern Illinois University. Lake, who currently resides in Holualoa, came to Hawaii in the 1980 as an architectural woodworker. This “journeyman” travel put him in touch with master craftsmen, architects, and artists, and allowed him to work on a wide variety of challenging projects. Years spent in the Pacific Northwest allowed him to become involved with forestry as a way of life, and today a cornerstone of the work he produces is the connection of the craftsman with the longterm health of our forests. Lake designs and builds fine furniture from local hardwoods that he and his sons and friends harvest. He has served as president of the Big Island Woodworkers Guild, Donkey Mill Art Center, Hawaii Forest Industry Association, and Hawaii Artist Collaboration. His work has received numerous awards and images of his work has been published nationally. His pieces can be seen at selected galleries and shows on the Big Island, as well as at his studio.

McClure began working with wood as a carpenter. However, it was his love of plants or more specifically his interest in native Hawaiian plants that exposed him to the spectacular beauty of Hawaii’s hardwoods. Wood is a unique medium in that the living tree has already started the creative process. The environmental forces that existed during its lifetime leave lasting evidence in its structural makeup. McClure strives to give these forces a voice in his creations.

Mydock, a professional artists for more than 40 years, tops off his wood work with the “Mydock Touch.” After turning a wooden vessel, he chooses between two embellishing techniques: “pearlizing,” which involves airbrushing the vessel with multiple layers of aurethane that is buffed and polished to a mirror finish; and “pyrography,” which is essentially wood burning. Mydock’s work with “pyrography” began with burning a few basic images such as leaves and vines followed by Hawaiian petroglyphs. He now incorporates intricate weaving and layering of original Mydock designs, endless knots, the beauty of nature, and visionary art.

Wailoa Center is free and open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. It is closed Saturdays, Sundays and state holidays.

For more information, call 933-0416 or email wailoa@yahoo.com.