Artwork by Christopher Edwards
EXHIBITION
ATTRIBUTE (at·tri·bute | \ˈa-trə-ˌbyüt) : EDWARDS + PORTNER + SOLIVEN
September 3 - October 18, 2019
The Art Gallery (Curated by Gaye Chan)
Curatorial Statement
One of the most common questions asked of artists is what inspires our work. To address this head on I have invited three Hawai‘i-based artists to create new projects that combine their own artworks with the actual sources of their inspiration. Edwards, Portner and Soliven were selected for their long commitment to different craft traditions. But more importantly, I chose them because their work feel like things that exist not only as sculptures, but on their own terms. Artist Hito Steryl ruminates on Walter Benjamin’s writing in her 2006 essay The Language of Things,
...we have to assume that there is a language of stones, pans and cardboard boxes. Lamps speak as if inhabited by spirits. Mountains and foxes are involved in discourse. High-rise buildings chat with each other. Paintings gossip.
Similarly, Edwards, Portner and Soliven’s objects often seem equally at home under the ocean floor, a natural history museum, or on a mortician’s table. It is these slippages that fascinate me.
Events + Programs (events are free and open to the public)
Sunday, September 8
2:00 - 3:00 p.m., Gallery walkthrough with the artists
3:00 - 5:00 p.m., Joint reception with Mary Kim: Ggot Byeol: Love of Two Stars
Artwork by Maya Lea Portner
Artist Bios
Christopher Edwards began working in ceramics in 2012 and also has a background in graphic design. His work is in the collections of the Honolulu Museum of Art, Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Art in Public Places Program, as well as national and international private collectors.
Maya Portner earned her BFA from Washington University School of Art and an MFA from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Portner has conducted research at the Museum of Natural History ‘La Specola’ in Florence, Italy, where her work has also been exhibited. Her sculptures were included in the Holland Paper Biennial of 2008 in Den Haag, The Netherlands. Portner has been an artist-in-residence at the “Waaw” Residency (Senegal), Baroda Printmaking Studio (Gujurat, India), and the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (Maine).
Juvana Soliven completed her BFA at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and an MFA at Cranbrook Academy of Art. She also studied Art Restoration and Conservation at Lorenzo de' Medici International School in Florence, Italy. Soliven is a Lecturer of this Department. She has also taught at the Honolulu Museum of Art School, and a Project Manager for the Art in Public Places Program at the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.
Artwork by Juvana Soliven
Sponsors
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Department of Art + Art History and College of Arts + Humanities; Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawai‘i and by the National Endowment for the Arts; Halekulani Hotel – Hospitality Sponsor for the Arts at UH Mānoa; and anonymous donors.
Gallery hours + admission:
Mon. – Fri. 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Free admission. Donations are appreciated.
Parking fees may apply.
Directions
Information may be subject to change.