By Cindy Ellen Russell, Star-Bulletin
A spacey table and heart-shaped chair are part of
Sisu Gallery's furniture exhibition.
Not your usual
dinette set
By Nadine Kam
Assistant Features EditorAN child-size alien spacecraft stands on tripod legs, rimmed with blinking red lights. A giant tiki god towers with its arms outstretched, bearing flowers for anyone who might sit upon its lap. Are these the manifestations of an "X-Files" nightmare?
Nope, these are just two of the pieces -- by Don Walker and Mike Ashford, respectively -- being presented at Sisu Gallery's 2nd annual Contemporary Furniture and Lighting Fixture Exhibit opening today.
Yes, there is life beyond La-Z-Boy.
The show can best be described as "eclectic." Gallery owner Seth Goldstein said, "There are so few exhibits like this in Hawaii that I feel there's a lot of ground to cover."
An elegant carved music stand by Masako Nitz is placed next to a rough wood beam with a doll inset by Billy Craven. An ode to "Little Tommy" is penciled onto the beam.
Goldstein couldn't say what piece of furniture this represented. "Honestly, I was hanging my coat on it, so I guess you could call it a coat rack.
"All of art crosses over into different areas. Furniture can be functional and decorative. Paintings don't have to be hung on a wall."
By Cindy Ellen Russell, Star-Bulletin
"Birth" is what artist Malae calls this
coffee table at Sisu Gallery.
Walker, who create "The Brother Ship" coffee table said he has always been interested in functional art. "A painting can be wonderful and you can enjoy it for many years. But I think it's interesting to have a painting you can sit on or drink from. It's art plus," he said.The small tables, he finds, work well in Asian and local interiors where there may be small spaces and low chairs or zabutons.
A swimming pool theme spills into two of Walker's pieces, a wall sconce and another low coffee table.
"Swimming pools are so amazing as a sculptural item," he said.
"They're so kinetic. I just love looking at them. They have depth, reflection and movement. They're so kinetic. I tried to get that into the table."
His table is built from mahogany painted in tropical colors, with a kidney-shaped depression in its top, filled with aqua-tinted polyester resin.
"It's like a cross between some exotic fruit and a pool table. People look at it and say, 'It's like an avocado.' "
No matter what associations the table engenders, the point is, it's entertaining.
"When I walk into a space that I'm going to be spending a lot of time in," Goldstein said, "I want it to be my sanctuary, someplace where I can come home and feel like I can relax and be inspired.
"I feel that you die a little bit when you come home to a house that makes you wish you're someplace else within 5 minutes of getting there."
Walker said the show is about the possibilities that arise when people are "not so locked up and concerned with making everything match.
"We could easily have a domestic market for things a little more whacked out, a little more fantastic."
