Three master of fine arts candidates from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Art and Art History will present their artwork from January 17 through February 12 at The Art Gallery. Students Jake Boggs, Kalani Largusa and Kamran Samimi present their exhibitions as part of a demanding course of study, production and review. Viewing is free and open to the public. An opening reception will be held on Sunday January 17 with music by guitarist Aaron Cardenas.
Artist statements
Jake Boggs presents Re/Collecting, an installation
Souvenirs are laden with the memories of experience; they have the power to conjure up a time past and continue to serve this function even as those memories erode. A collection of objects forms a narrative, a story composed by its elements. These objects are presented as offerings, to be imbued with new memories and histories, to become elements of a new collection.
Kalani Largusa presents I too am here, a selection of paintings
The passage of time in Nicolas Poussin’s, Et in Arcadia Ego is poetically revealed through the strong shadow on the tomb cast by the kneeling figure as he scrutinizes an inscription; “I too am in Arcadia” (I live in or had once lived in paradise).
Largusa’s contemporary abstract paintings in the exhibition I too am here explore a sense of time through the use of an evolved “X” and pyramid pattern. The paintings utilize “cold moves” which suggest spontaneity despite a calculated and deliberately slow execution and strike a balance between pattern and intuition as a record of history.
Largusa states, “I am present mark by mark, but as the painting comes to a close my presence dissolves and the work remains as evidence of the transience of human life.”
Kamran Samimi presents Passage, an installation
Utilizing the visual language of geometric abstraction, Samimi references a transition frozen in time. This piece represents the transitory nature of life, encouraging the viewer to be aware of the present moment.
Each plane suspended in space represents a transient instant existing between its past and future: a slice of time contributing to an overall sensation of growth and decay. This mimics nature’s rhythm, with all things existing in a constant state of flux. As an invitation to pause and experience this moment in time, Passage encourages mindfulness: to be here, now.
Music by Aaron Cardenas
Cardenas will provide music at the opening reception. Cardenas received his bachelor of music degree from UH Mānoa and will attend graduate school this fall. He has studied with guitar virtuosos Benjamin Verdery, Frederic Hand, Carlos Barbosa Lima and the Brazilian Guitar Duo’s Douglas Lora and João Luiz. The recipient of a full scholarship in 2013, Cardenas attended a ten day master class with Benjamin Verdery, professor at Yale University, and was one of a few selected to perform a solo recital. He has been teaching and performing professionally since he was sixteen.
Exhibit details
The exhibitions will be open for viewing from January 17 through February 12 in the UH Mānoa art building gallery. Special gallery walk throughs will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday January 17 and at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday January 28 with an opening reception and music by Cardenas on January 17. Viewing is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Sharon Tasaka at (808) 956-8364 or via email.
