Local Color
Sunday, June 3, 2001
JUST WHEN YOU THINK the summer months are going to be dull, along come some new artists (at least, relatively new) doing wonderful things. We found a number of them this week. Whirls, swirls of
fun, mystery signify
inspiring summerDaven Hee, who is attending graduate school at Southern Illinois University, has practically taken over the entire Bibelot Gallery in Kaimuki with 92 ceramic pieces in his farewell show. His art is handsome, earthy and at times funny and practical. (See gallery page for show hours.)
The promising ceramist had gone to the University of Hawaii intending to become a teacher, but one ceramics class six years ago changed everything.
"Making pots on the wheel and being expressive with clay consumed virtually all of my thoughts," Hee said. The potter's wheel has been the center of his life, and he's named his show "Enveloping Spiral" out of respect to the constantly whirling wheel.
Bibelot's owners, Tom Tierney and Paul Sakai, discovered Hee three years ago in a group show of college students and have been carrying his work since. They introduced him to ceramist Toshiko Takaezu, who encouraged him to pursue his master's degree on the mainland.
Hee will be finishing up his last Hawaii ceramic pieces this weekend at Raku Ho'olaule'a. He's been part of the beach pottery gathering for five years; in four of them he acted as the group leader for raku diehards from UH.
ABSTRACT LANDSCAPES suggesting "ethereal places of mystery" is how Linda Fong describes her new series of paintings on exhibit at the Contemporary Museum Cafe in Makiki. Ribbons of colors swirling in pools of dark and light backgrounds suggest dreamlike landscapes.
"The feeling I want to convey to the viewer," she says, "is one of not knowing exactly where you are."
Fong, a successful illustrator with several mainland corporate clients, has been trying to concentrate on painting. She made a similar series of larger paintings and used them as the starting point for the latest paintings. Her new works are painted in acrylics on cotton muslin mounted on wood panels.
Hours for the show are 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays through Oct. 14. Call 526-1322.
THE WORKS of Ellen Leo and Saba Daraee are nothing alike, but they complement each other well in the Hawaii Pacific University Art Gallery in Windward Oahu.
Leo uses photographs in cast rubber to observe the minute details of everyday life. While Leo's work is small and subtle, Daraee's drawings and prints are bright blue and vibrant. Their exhibits runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays through July 27. Call 544-0287.
THE HONOLULU ACADEMY of Arts' new John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery of Hawaiian art is the cover story in the June issue of the prestigious national art magazine American Art Review. Jennifer Saville, the academy's curator of Western art, authored the 12-page, color-illustrated feature story.
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
