Individual artworks created by two alumni and a student from the art and art history department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have been acquired for public viewing. In September, the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) purchased an oil painting that depicts the controversial sport of sabong or cockfighting, and sculptures made out of glass and nylon-laced ceramic for a public art collection that is displayed in hundreds of state government sites across Hawaiʻi, such as schools, libraries and Capitol Modern (formerly Hawaiʻi State Art Museum).
Artists featured in the SFCA Art in Public Places Collection include UH Mānoa alumni Eduardo Joaquin (BFA, UH Mānoa art and art history and AA, Kapiʻolani Community College), Jenna Macy (MFA, UH Mānoa art and art history) and student Enrico Battan (MFA, UH Mānoa art and art history).
Battan is on track to graduate this fall and aspires to show his creations at contemporary galleries around the world. His recently purchased sculpture, ‘Collapse,’ is made from recycled tinted industrial window glass and was cooked in a kiln at more than 1,300 degrees. The Michigan native poured his heart to the piece after experiencing loss and an immense range of emotions.
“Hard times generate great work, the most difficult of things bring the greatest rewards, even when we cannot see how because we are living in the moment, and things seem too difficult to work though, don’t give up,” Battan said. “See things through, never give up.”
This November, Battan will showcase more of his work at the Artists of Hawaiʻi 2023 exhibition at the Downtown Art Center in Honolulu.
All three artworks were nominated by Acquisition Award Selection Committees during exhibit visits and were approved for purchase by the SFCA Board of Commissioners on September 20.
