FORMS OF VOID
Kloe Kang and Suzanne Wolfe
January 18 – May 3, 2026
John Young Museum of Art, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Kloe Kang and Suzanne Wolfe—a painter and a ceramic artist, respectively —first collaborated on the exhibition Working Together, presented in 2007 at the Linekona Center of the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Despite distinct differences in medium, style, and subject matter, the two artists chose to share a studio as a means of fostering dialogue and conceptual exploration. That initial partnership focused on the intersection of two- and three-dimensional practices, merging drawing and painting with ceramic materials and processes on commercial ceramic tiles. Working side by side, they anticipated that their ongoing exchange would continue to yield unanticipated insights and expand the conceptual frameworks of their individual practices.
In this renewed collaboration, the focus shifts from an integration of media to a shared investigation of form, specifically, the bowl, as a symbolic and conceptual anchor. As one of the most elemental and enduring human objects, the bowl carries cultural, historical, and psychological resonance. Its interior void suggests not absence, but potential—an invitation to nourish both the material and intangible state of being.
Kang's drawn and painted bowls, which seemingly transcend the bounds of gravity and time, function as linguistic stand-ins. They serve as pronouns that question identity and belonging, and as verbs that map the personal battles and scars of the individual onto the broader context of shared human experience.
Wolfe, by contrast, presents the bowl as a physically grounded form - refined, intricate and formally self-contained. Yet the surface imagery complicates this autonomy by featuring text, deliberately frivolous and often disparate, that complements and simultaneously contradicts the precisely layered imagery to invite physical indulgence as well as intellectual curiosity.
Together, their works form a visual and conceptual dialogue. Kang's bowls occupy an ethereal, ambiguous space. Wolfe's remain rooted in tactile, material reality. The interplay between them generates a field of tension and resonance-between fragility and substance, the ephemeral and the concrete. Through this most modest of forms, Kang and Wolfe examine what it means to hold what cannot be seen, to mend what cannot be undone, and to find significance in that which lies beyond comprehension.
Upcoming Public Event
Sunday, February 1 | 1:00–4:00 PM: Artists Roundtable Discussion with Katherine Love, followed by a Gallery Walkthrough and Public Reception
The JOHN YOUNG MUSEUM OF ART is located in Krauss Hall at 2500 Dole Street Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822 (Directions).
Museum hours & admission
Tuesday – Friday, & Sunday 12 – 4 p.m.
Closed Saturdays, Mondays, spring break (March 17-19), and state holidays.
Free admission. Donations are appreciated.
Parking fees may apply during weekdays. Parking is free on Sundays
For more information please contact 808.956.8364 and gallery@hawaii.edu