Local Color
Sunday, July 1, 2001
THE brood of multicolored rabbits in the window at The Gallery at Ward Centre can tell some stories. They are made of brick, cement and coloring, but they are based on real rabbits that Jodi Endicott raised as pets for her children. Lives of sculptor’s
rabbits inspire Ward
gallery exhibitWhen you raise rabbits, you learn about "birth, death, birth control, territorial rights, genetic engineering, the whole male-female relationship thing."
"It's amazing how closely the rabbits' experience parallels the human experience. It's the whole shebang, only it happens in a cage," Endicott says.
The rabbits ran away and then they came back. The male rabbits couldn't stand each other and fought for what they thought belonged to them in the cage.
And they multiplied, of course. Endicott ended up with nearly 10 rabbits before she instituted birth control measures. She has only four now, but having so many gave her inspiration for a full range of rabbit faces, moods and postures.
All the rabbit sculptures are big rabbits with floppy ears, based on the first floppy-eared rabbit, named what else but Floppy. (The other originals were Netherland dwarfs, but once the mating began, the offspring pretty much all ended up with floppy ears.)
The rabbits taught Endicott's children about life and gave her ideas for new animals in her animal sculpture menagerie. She used old bricks as bases and slapped on cement to build the rabbit forms. Wires and steel mesh were added to form the ears and heads, and the rabbits were finished with acrylic paint, washes and graphite. The results are lifelike, expressive and painterly, capturing distinctive personalities.The concrete rabbits are on exhibit with other animal sculptures by Endicott through July 27. The hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. Call 597-8034.
ALSO ON exhibit at the same time at the Ward gallery are recent watercolors by Roger Whitlock. Calling the series "Ridgeline," Whitlock uses his paintings as a metaphor for his current state of being.
The creative writing professor retired Friday from the University of Hawaii after 30 years of teaching and is embarking on a new career as a full-time painter. It's scary and exciting at the same time, he says.
"I am at a point (where) it's kind of like standing on one of those ridgelines," Whitlock says. "Even though there's no real danger, I feel very anxious, as if the world is going to tip away from me."
Whitlock is returning to his roots in a way. He originally was offered a scholarship to study art at the University of Washington, but he decided to major in English. Writing and teaching became his life's work, but after an evening watercolor class at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1985, Whitlock has been painting in his spare time.
Writing makes him a perfectionist, revising a piece of writing off and on for several years. Watercolors, on the other hand, force him to work quickly and decisively; otherwise the colors become muddy and the painting loses its freshness and edge.Whitlock intended the series to be abstractions but soon found himself painting shapes suggestive of landscapes reminiscent of ridgelines in Hawaii and the Southwest.
KENNE BRITTAIN MAHONEY, who is the visual merchandising manager for Liberty House on Kauai, had a reception for her latest exhibit that other artists could only dream about. Both Jay Jensen, chief curator of the Contemporary Museum, and Jennifer Saville, curator of Western art for the Honolulu Academy of Arts, came to check out her show.
"All I can say is, 'Wow.' I didn't expect to see them. Getting one is great, but having both of them ... It was more than I ever expected," Mahoney says.
Mahoney's lithographs (see images on Page 19) are made from photographs she took around Kauai, the majority of a large trash dump in Wailuku after Hurricane Iniki. The lithographs are then embellished and hand-colored.
"Works on Paper" is Mahoney's first one-person show, although she has been showing her work in the islands for many years in juried and group exhibitions. The exhibit at Bibelot Gallery in Kaimuki is through July 20.
BIG ISLAND SCULPTOR Frank Andrews will give a demonstration of petroglyph carving on stone at Nohea Gallery at Ward Warehouse from noon to 2 p.m. today. Andrews also will provide blocks of wood for anyone interested in learning the carving technique to try it out. Call 599-7927.
Andrews says he believes petroglyphs are an art form of the highest order, carved with much labor with Stone Age tools and reflecting the Hawaiians' reverence for their surroundings. Andrew's copper petroglyph sculptures are available through the gallery.
TEMARI, Center for Asian and Pacific Arts, will celebrate the work of 25 Hawaii artists at Art and Soul 22, its annual fund-raiser featuring the Art Marketplace.
Friday is preview night with a silent auction, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Grand Manoa Ballroom, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. The cost is $30, with $15 tax-deductible. Food and beverages are included in the cost.
The Art Marketplace will reopen to the general public from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. No admission fee will be charged that day. Call 735-1860.
The featured artists include George Woollard and Jinga Kim, printmakers Laura Smith and Cora Yee, ceramists Joel Park and Ed Higa, jeweler Cynthia Wiig, fiber artists Pam Barton and Maile Andrade, sculptor Jodi Endicott and mixed-media artist Lori Uyehara. There will also be a special sale of clay replicas of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's terra cotta warriors.
ORIGINAL JAPANESE woodblock prints from the Edo period (1603-1867) are on exhibit at Kahala Mall to 5 p.m. today, and at Honolulu Hale through July 12. The prints appear courtesy of the Utagawaha Monjinkai Foundation, which wishes to promote Japanese culture through ukiyo-e prints.
City Hall hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays. For more information, call the foundation at 951-0477.
Gardening Calendar
Suzanne Tswei's art column runs Sundays in Today.
You can write her at the Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, Suite 7-210, Honolulu, HI, 96813
or email stswei@starbulletin.com
