PO‘IPU — This fall, water is once again a major theme at Galerie 103, located in The Shops at Kukui‘ula in Po‘ipu. In a new exhibit, which opened Saturday, artists Carol Bennett and Deyana Mielke offer unique views of this
PO‘IPU — This fall, water is once again a major theme at Galerie 103, located in The Shops at Kukui‘ula in Po‘ipu.
In a new exhibit, which opened Saturday, artists Carol Bennett and Deyana Mielke offer unique views of this life-giving source.
Exhibited works by Carol Bennett, who swims and patrols the ocean for inspiration, represent a continuum of a 30-year project. In the largest work, “Lure,” recycled wood is used, giving a nod to the preciousness of our environment, while other works play with repetition and the duality of night and day.
The exhibit will also include “Beacon,” a study for one of Bennett’s public art installations, commissioned by the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and completed in 2012.
Bennett’s “Cycles,” at the new University of Hawai‘i West O‘ahu campus, is a way-finding beacon that rises from 70 to 100 feet in the air. At dusk, “Cycles” illuminates and becomes animated at 15-minute intervals, marking time with pulsing rhythms of light. The name “Cycles” refers to personal, community and historical life cycles.
Bennett’s “Trigger Picasso Energy,” at the Hawai‘i State Art Museum Sculpture Garden, is a 28- by 8-foot stained-glass canopy with photovoltaic solar cells and gold leaf. As the sun arcs throughout the day, light streams through the glass and projects vivid patterns onto the museum walls.
Delicately balancing humor, tenderness and, at times, brutal honesty, Deyana Mielke’s work is always deeply personal.
“For me, water is home,” Mielke writes in her artist’s statement. “I grew up on the water and must be around it. It is us. We are water. Our skin is the membrane that holds it all together. We can’t live without it because we are it, and it is us. We carry it with us wherever we go. It is home.”
Mielke recently returned to Kaua‘i from her Chicago solo retrospective exhibition of her work spanning more than 20 years.
A number of Mielke’s paintings being exhibited at Galerie 103, along with more recent works, will be featured in the MTV series “Underemployed,” which was filmed during Mielke’s Chicago retrospective.
The “Underemployed” episodes featuring Mielke’s work will air on MTV as a two-hour season finale on New Year’s Day. Check local listings for scheduling.
An opening reception for the new exhibit was held Saturday and the exhibit will run through Jan. 19. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 8 p.m.
For more information contact Galerie 103 at 742-0103 or visit www.galerie103.com.
