Kahilu Exhibits will be exhibiting the Hawaii Handweavers’ Hui’s “Fiber Journeys of Hawaii Island” through Oct. 18 at Kahilu Theatre Galleries in Waimea.
The exhibit showcases fiber artists of the Big Island, Oahu and Japan, who were included in the Hawaii Handweavers’ Hui’s 31st Biennial Juried Exhibition at the Honolulu Museum of Art School on Oahu. The selected works at the Kahilu Theatre Galleries feature fresh interpretations of traditional types of fiber art including surface design, weaving, lashing, and wearable art as well as art created with nontraditional materials and innovative techniques.
The artists, in a myriad of ways, interpret the theme of the Biennial Juried Exhibition on Oahu. Biennial Juror Mary Babcock, MFA, MA/PhD, is a professor, fiber art chairwoman, and graduate chairwoman of art and art history at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
“In reviewing the work for Fiber Journeys, I was profoundly struck by the richness of the weaving community, the sincerity of the work and the dedication to fiber a as a point of entry into new and often unfamiliar worlds,” said Babcock. “The selection was difficult as the work as a whole was diverse and strong. Unable to include all the work in this single exhibition, I landed on works that I thought best embraced the notion of a journey of inquiry — of passage from one place or stage to another, along with the courage, persistence and ingenuity such travel entails. I also reflected in the notion of an artist as traveler, a term originating from the word travail, ‘to toil or labor.’”
One of the Hawaii artists included in “Fiber Journeys of Hawaii Island” is Susan Mori. Her work, “Rainbow Rag” is listed as being “Sakiori, summer and winter weave, cotton, hand-dyed with Japanese indigo, and hand-cut scrap fabric.”
“The journey began in Tokyo with cotton thread dyed in indigo, measured and wound around the back beam of my loom. Then packed for a move to Hawaii, warp ready and waiting to interlace with weft. Now home in Waimea, a weft hand cut from the cloth of old clothing is woven in rainbow colors, evoking a lifetime love of reuse and recycle. Cultural values embodied in the Japanese rag-weaving technique of ‘sakiori.’ Nothing is wasted,” Mori said.
The Hawaii Handweavers’ Hui is a nonprofit organization founded in 1953 on Oahu to promote handweaving in Hawaii. It currently has branches on both Oahu and the Big Island, with a mission to provide mentorship to new weavers and spinners, and perpetuate the joy of their craft.
The Kahilu Theatre Galleries exhibitions are free and open to the public from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday through Friday, as well as during all performances. An opening reception was held Thursday.
Info: Visit www.kahilutheatre.org or call 885-6868. ■
