Tribute to Satoru - Department of Art and Art History: University of Hawaii at Manoa

Tribute to Satoru

August 27 – September 29, 2024

THE COMMONS GALLERY, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

The work of Satoru Abe has always had a powerful impact on my sense of design as a native artist. It is as if the islands below and the heavens above had found, through Mr. Abe, a new voice with which to communicate to our contemporary world. His forms are visually delicious, and just enough to leave one’s soul full and content.

-Solomon Enos

Satoru Abe’s generous mentorship has impacted generations of some of the most significant artists in Hawai’i. His influence, along with the other members of the Metcalf Chateau, has created a unique form of abstraction in Hawai’i, which foregrounds a reverence for nature, creating spiritual and bodily connections to the ‘aina and kai. Form is drawn from the intersection of the natural environment and the rich cultural heritage of the islands. Each of the artists is responsive to process, which is driven by materials including stone, wood, metal, oil, and pigment. Through sharing his wisdom, aloha, and grace with younger artists, Satoru has guaranteed that generations of artists are continuing his legacy of his creativity and innovation.

Artists

Kahi Ching, Kaili Chun, Solomon Enos, John Koga, Roland Longstreet, Mary Mitsuda, Kamran Samimi, Lawrence Seward, Juvana Soliven, Jerry Vasconcellos, and Debbie Young.

Kahi Ching

I have been involved in the arts since childhood. It was the most enjoyable way to express my creative thoughts and ideas, as I struggled with dyslexia. I was able to communicate much more with images than with words on paper. I started with the basics in the early stages—pencil, charcoal, oil and watercolor, and assemblage, and during my 35 years in the arts, has evolved into the use of multiple mediums including acrylic, paper mâché, wood, clay, metal, and other mediums.

Coming from several different cultural backgrounds, select groups of my artwork reflect a distinction among each other; I celebrate all aspects of my ancestry. Nature also plays an important part in creating sight, sound, and texture to exude from my two- or three-dimensional works. And not all of my paintings are pretty; I tend to be spiritual when composing a piece. I use my heart, the very essence of me, within all my work. All of how I feel at any given time during the creative process is expressed.

In this day and age, I keep up to date with cutting-edge technology, including photography equipment and computer applications, and attend workshops so that I can be self-sufficient in recording and producing my very own digital images. At this moment, I am focusing on wood sculpture and bonsai. I continue to challenge myself with different projects to master every medium. As long as I can create completely different works of art that can touch the inner being of a person, to inspire, as I have been inspired, I will create.

Kahi Ching was born in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. A true child prodigy, he began drawing and painting at an early age. He was sponsored to take art classes at the Honolulu Academy of Arts amongst adults in life drawing class. He continued being recognized and received accolades throughout his childhood. Kahi won a Hallmark Honor Prize for his pencil drawing entitled, “Curios” and a scholarship to Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design in San Francisco. He also attended The School of Holography in San Francisco.

Upon Kahi’s return to the islands, he continued with his art and ventured into different fields, including construction, concrete furniture, jewelry, bonsai, and sign painting, all of which have contributed to his engineering of special art projects. Kahi faced occasional criticism for venturing into different venues of art – painting, ceramics, and wood sculpting, just to name a few. He had a long-term battle within himself with the idea of conforming to the notion of conventional art and became conscious of the fact that creating art that comes from within himself is most meaningful to him as an artist rather than to please someone else (although if that someone else appreciates his vision, that’s a bonus!). With that being said, Kahi continues to challenge himself with new mediums in addition to mastering the primary, and that is simply Kahi’s “style.” His work has been selected for significant exhibitions including Ai Pōhaku, The Stone Eaters at the Art Gallery at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Kali is currently in Ke Ao Lama, Enlightened World at Capitol Modern, on view through December 31^st. Upcoming exhibitions include Endless Archipelago at First Hawaiian Bank, and Hawai‘i Triennial 2025.

Kaili Chun

The impact of Satoru Abe on art in Hawaiʻi and beyond is profound, reflecting the significant influence of Hawaiʻi’s unique environment, people, and culture on his body of work. His creations encapsulate the essence of the islands, bringing a sense of place and cultural depth to a global audience.

Abe's innovative approach and dedication to his craft have not only shaped the local art scene but have also earned him international recognition. His ability to experiment with abstract forms in both 2-dimensions and 3-dimensions speaks to his deep connection with Hawaiʻi, translating its beauty and spirit into visual art that resonates worldwide.

It is my honor to acknowledge Satoru Abe’s extraordinary accomplishments and his unwavering commitment to creativity over the decades. His work continues to inspire and challenge, making him a quintessential artist’s artist. Through his eyes, we see the world enriched by the vibrant and diverse tapestry of Hawaiʻi, a testament to his enduring legacy and artistic genius.

This work is from a series created for the Friends of HiSam Portfolio Project in 2018.

In this series, I am reminded of the words offered by my Father, Michael J. Chun, written for the 1996 Pacific Basin Conference themed: “What is an educated person?” In it, he speaks of the interconnectedness of everything and about the knowledge of these interconnections through the `ōlelo no`eau…

He lawa‘i a no ke kai papa u, he pokole ke aho;

he lawa‘i a no ke kai hohonu, he loa ke aho.

(Pukui 1983:80)

A fisherman of the shallow sea uses only a short line;

a fisherman of the deep has a long line.

His words have remained with me throughout my years and serve as one of two main sources of inspiration for the “i`a” series.

The second source of inspiration is from my great-grandmother, Bina Mossman, a composer and former High Sheriff of the Territory of Hawaiʻi. Her mele, “He Ono,” speaks of the “deliciousness” of our favorite Hawaiian fish, such as the ʻōʻio, ʻōpelu, akule, and ʻanae. This artwork highlights the ʻōpelu.

Kaili Chun is a sculptor and installation artist who uses processes and materials that transform physical spaces into unique environments that comment on contemporary issues.

Chun’s diverse training includes receiving her Bachelor’s in Architecture from Princeton University, during which time she also studied with renowned ceramicist Toshiko Takaezu; an Master of Fine Arts from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa; and an apprenticeship with master canoe builder and woodworker Wright Elemakule Bowman, Sr.

Numerous museums and galleries have exhibited Chun’s installations, including: Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art (QaGOMA), Brisbane, Australia; University of Alaska Museum; Linden Museum Stuttgart, Germany; Museum of Art & Design, New York; Sacred Circle Gallery, Washington; The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu; and the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Chun has received several significant visual art awards. Most recently, her installation for the Tenth Asia Pacific Triennial for Contemporary Art was acquired by the Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia. She has also been an Artist in Residence at the Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans (2012), awarded the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant, New York City, NY (2010); Artist Residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM (2008); the Individual Artist Visual Arts Fellowship in Conceptual Art (2000) and the Catherine E.B. Cox Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts (2006) from the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Her work is included in private and institutional collections in Hawai‘i, Germany, and Australia.

Chun is currently an artist with G70 Design and I-ON Group, and the newly appointed Assistant Professor of Kānaka Maoli Art in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Solomon Enos

The work of Satoru Abe has always had a powerful impact on my sense of design as a native artist. It is as if the islands below and the heavens above had found through Mr. Abe, a new voice with which to communicate to our contemporary world. His forms are visually delicious, and just enough to leave one’s soul full and content. It is Satoru Abe that I look to as an example of excellent composition and form, and if the work I have submitted can be said to have any aspect considered “Abe-esque,” then I am deeply honored.

Solomon Robert Nui Enos is a Native Hawaiian artist, illustrator, and visionary. Born and raised in Makaha Valley (O‘ahu, Hawai‘i), Enos hails from the well-known Enos ‘ohana. He has been making art for more than thirty years and is adept at artistic expression in a wide variety of media including oil paintings, book illustrations, murals, and game design. A self-described “Possibilist,” Enos’s art expresses an informed aspirational vision of the world at its best via contemporary and traditional art that leans towards sci-fi and fantasy. His work touches on themes like collective consciousness, ancestry and identity, our relationship with our planet, and all through the lens of his experience as a person indigenous to Hawai‘i.

John Koga

“Soul” is my experience with reconnecting to land, ocean, and sky. I have learned to observe with good intentions. I have learned to listen with good intentions. I have learned to be present with good intentions.

John Koga born and raised in Honolulu. He was the former chief preparator at The Contemporary Museum, and an admitted behind-the-scenes influencer. He refers to one of Hawai‘i’s modern masters: Satoru Abe, as bringing back his version of abstract expressionism to the islands.

Roland Longstreet

This work is a contemplation of the solitary human form.

Abe is a megalithic artist, wielding indefatigable creative vitality and a sturdy grasp of nature. Having some proximity to Abe has been and continues to be a source of wonderment and inspiration in my practice.

Roland Longstreet is a painter and sculptor based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. He graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with a bachelor in art with a focus on painting and sculpture and a minor in Chinese.

In 2016, he helped open ARS Cafe. Under the guidance of John Koga and Lawrence Seward, he helped curate monthly art and music programs with a commitment to supporting the creative community in Honolulu.

In 2020, Longstreet transitioned full-time into art handling and has been exhibiting his artwork regularly throughout Honolulu, most recently at the First Hawaiian Center and Kaiao Space in Chinatown. His work is driven foremost by the figure and strives to explore the multiple layers of human existence.

Mary Mitsuda

This manuscript series and the earlier folded letter series plays with thoughts about ephemera: paper ephemera — letters, books, newspaper (and news) — but also weightier things, buildings, cultures, coastlines, glacial polar caps.

Mary Mitsuda was born in Honolulu and grew up in ʻAiea, Oʻāhu. At the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, she worked in a wide range of media, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1976. In 1989, as an outgrowth of work in screen prints and monotypes, she began focusing on painting, which has since become her principal medium. She continues to live and work in Hawaiʻi.

Kamran Samimi

Informed by a strong sense of place and his multi-cultural identity (Iranian/Norwegian raised in rural Hawai‘i), Kamran Samimi's artistic practice centers on natural ephemera —stones, wood, pigment, and land—as conduits to explore the intricate dynamics, tensions, and histories that exist between human and non-human ancestors.

Samimi contemplates how these interconnected relationships might engender moments of equilibrium, compassion, and healing in a world marked by oppression, injustice, and widespread devastation. Specifically, Samimi draws inspiration from the direct, experiential focus on Nature also found in Zen Buddhism and Sufi Mysticism. As a testament to these philosophies and a formal artistic proposition, his approach is both respectful and whimsical, mirroring Nature's gestures: deconstructing and reforming with intention and compassion.

Drawn to the archaic and timeless, Kamran Samimi approaches his subject matter and materials with both curiosity and reverence, examining the tension between struggle and serenity. Choosing to work with natural ephemera such as stones, pigment, water, and soil, Samimi explores his relationship to human versus non-human ancestors via the lens of his multi-cultural identity (Iranian/ Norwegian growing up in rural Laupāhoehoe, Hawaiʻi). Samimi holds a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Print-Media from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and currently works out of Mānoa Valley, Hawaiʻi.

Lawrence Seward

I wanted this work to transcend the mundane through its material process of fabrication. Pennies an almost worthless symbol of capitalism, recast in bronze, gives the Penny iconic status. Having .99 of them brings that high symbolic meaning back towards the mundane again. I also took care in crafting its casual penny bowl. One could see the individual pennies as relating to Mr. Abe’s leaves sitting on his work table waiting to be welded to a tree form.

Laurence Seward received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Hawaiʻi in 1990 and his Master of Fine Arts from New York University in 1994, pending seventeen years living in New York City. After college, he found working as an artist was challenging, but also very rewarding at times. Over thirteen years, Seward did five solo shows at the Andrew Kreps Gallery, showed his work nationally and internationally, entered the Dikeou Collection, Dakis Joannou Collection, Mart Margulies Collection, and got a sculpture into the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Feeling the need to raise his children in the Pacific and shift his work out of the context of New York, in 2008, Seward moved back to Hawaiʻi, where he was born and raised. He continues in his efforts to make and show work, most recently being included in the Hawaiʻi Triennial with other international artists.

Juvana Soliven

A net frozen in a moment of tension and struggle against gravity uneasily. A net may be a trap, a barrier, a passage, a body. Catch examines the inadequacies of safe “pink spaces” designated for women — spaces that are a symptom of patriarchal violence yet stop short of addressing the systems that perpetuate that violence.

Catch was made for solo exhibition, Safe Passage, in 2023 at The Laboratory of Art and Form in Kyoto, Japan. The exhibition showcased a collection of objects and spaces that exist between security and vulnerability, tenderness and rigidity — reflecting on the precariousness of a woman’s existence within a patriarchal society and the tenacity needed to persevere beyond it.

Juvana Soliven is a visual artist and educator hailing from Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Her art challenges and utilizes object languages to address issues concerning intimacy, labor, bodily autonomy, and women’s positionality within patriarchal systems.

Soliven completed a Master of Fine Arts in Metalsmithing at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2016, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 2013, and studied Art Restoration and Conservation at Lorenzo de’ Medici International School in Florence, Italy in 2012. Her work is featured in collections such as the Cranbrook Art Museum, Honolulu Museum of Art, and Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, in addition to private collections.

Soliven has exhibited her work both nationally and internationally, including in the Netherlands, Germany, Iceland, and Japan. Soliven is a Lecturer in Metals and Glass, Sculpture, and Expanded Practices at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Jerry Vasconcellos

Jerry Vasconcellos has been sculpting Hawai‘i’s woods and stone since 1970. He is locally known to have extensive experience in carving basalt, Hawai‘i's native stone. His woodwork is similarly honored. His innate ability to read the innermost heart of his material and create from that material's essence has enhanced many gardens, boardrooms, and private and public art collections worldwide. However, that isn't the sole reason Vasconcellos sculpts. He sculpts to connect spiritually and physically with the land he was born and raised upon. "By working with the indigenous and endemic materials of Hawai’i, I have also managed to understand and appreciate an integral aspect of the Maoli culture in a very personal way. I am never quite as at peace as when I am carving or in the ocean."

Vasconcellos’s grasp of the elements and this land and respect for his surroundings have been nurtured through years of bodysurfing, sailing, hiking, camping, and observing the innermost core of these islands. His years with Hawai‘i Bound School took him up through the Kohala Mountains, the Ka'û Desert, and up to Mauna Loa to stand at the rim of Moku 'Âweoweo eight times. His symbiotic connection with Hawai‘i and its environments have kept him in constant awe––no other destination has replaced his birth home. Physical and spiritual connection with the land has also allowed him to constantly merge with the indigenous culture––creating from that basic foundation, inserting that classical element into his amazing sculptures. The art that Vasconcellos creates is steeped in all that is Hawai‘i, emanating from the heart and soul of its people. The materials he uses are bits and pieces of Hawai‘i itself, unraveling secret after secret with each completed work of art.

Vasconcellos’s work is created intuitively. His forms evolve from his materials (local wood and stone) and his artistic philosophy is that the journey truly helps define the final artwork. This process allows for the materials to be a participant in their destiny. “Reverence to materials is a lesson from the ancestors of this land. The limits of what is available to us on an island are of huge relevance to my search for the truth. In the process I learn from the materials and the process exposes me to ways of nature. I am forever a student of our environment and the culture that took care of it.”

Other influences involve sculptors Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, Jean Arp, and Constantin Brancusi, as well as the arts of the oceanic cultures, chiefly that of the Hawaiians. “I don’t necessarily aim to create Hawaiian art, the influences of the creative process are so integrated with this land that it’s hard not to. The materials and their treatment come from living in an island culture. The materials are of this land and the process expresses the sensitivity of the culture that evolved in this land.”

Sculptor Jerry Vasconcellos is a self-taught instinctual carver by nature. He studied drawing under Duane Preble and painting at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa between 1969 and 1971 before becoming involved in the launch of Hōkūle’a at Hakipu‘u in 1976. During the preparations for Hōkūle’a’s first Polynesian voyage, Jerry was fortunate enough to spend time with navigator Mau Pialug, who gifted him his first adze, influencing his life direction thereafter. He then became an apprentice of sculptor Rocky Ka‘iouliokahihikolu Jensen, a member of Hale Naua III and the Maoli Arts Alliance.

Jerry’s creative process is anchored in his family’s historic Kalihi Valley residence, the Wailele Artist Colony. He is a self-taught instinctual carver by nature. Inspired by the work of Henry Moore, Jean Arp, Constantin Brancusi, Isamu Noguchi, and Satoru Abe, he creates art as an expression of the interrelationships of life cycles, place, and natural materials. He has mounted and appeared in numerous shows over the past fifty years, and his work is in many public and private collections.

In 2012, Vasconcellos submitted the proposal for Makawalu Vortex, a sculptural installation at the University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center in the Kaka‘ako district of Honolulu. Commissioned by the Hawai‘i State Foundation of Culture and the Arts, Art in Public Places Program, the project imagines the concept of “Makawalu,” meaning "eight eyes," and refers to Kānaka Maoli use of multiple perspectives and sources of information in solving a problem. Completed in 2014, two large pohaku brought from the Kapaa Quarry in Kailua, O‘ahu, are carved to symbolize the drawing and radiating of energy from their surroundings outward. Dedicated on June 19, 2014, the stones are situated on both sides of the path leading to the UHCC’s entrance. The eyes of Makawalu Vortex look “to the sources - the sky, the earth, the ocean, the sun, the people who work in this facility ... at each other as well to the search from within. I want the Makawalu Vortex to foster the open-mindedness and wisdom of the search for the truth that will lead us to find answers by incorporating the power and energy of the land as a healing source in the form of the stones” in Jerry’s own words. In 2016, Jerry submitted his concept for a sculptural installation for the Keahuolū Judiciary Complex under construction in Kailua-Kona. Awarded the commission by Hawai‘i State Foundation of Culture and the Arts, Art in Public Places Program, Ho’o Pōhaku brings to life materials from Kailua-Kona’s beloved Hualālai, where they were unearthed on site by the complex contractor. Ho’o Pōhaku is comprised of six basaltic bluestone pōhaku ranging from four to seven feet tall nestled into the landscape as one approaches the courthouse entrance. The complex and its art was dedicated on October 1, 2019.

Debbie Young

Being exposed and at the moment, I work intuitively in collaboration with the universal creative energy within, the materials available, and the art of being present. It’s the mark-making and being witness to my surroundings that goes onto the paper or canvas. I have a love and fascination for the ocean and being immersed in the saltwater on long daily swims contributes to my ongoing paintings of “Oceanmocean and Seascapes.

Debbie Young was born and raised in Hawai‘i. She has studied at the Honolulu Museum of Arts, California College of Arts and Crafts, and the San Francisco Art Institute. Her work has been shown in numerous juried exhibitions and can be found in collections throughout the Islands, Japan, and Korea. Selected exhibitions include Koa Gallery, Iolani Gallery, Cedar Street Gallery, Hawaiʻi Pacific University, Gallery at Ward Center, Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Andrew Rose Gallery, and Honululu Museum of Art.

Opening Reception

Location: Commons Gallery, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM)
Date: September 1, 2024, Sunday, 2:00–4:00 PM

THE COMMONS GALLERY is located on the ground floor of The Art Building. From Dole Street, take East-West Road, turn left to Correa Road, and then turn right for the Art Building.