Mapped Features UH Facility and local artists

Written by Loraine Ho and Cynthia McCoy

On January 18, the crisscrossing streets downtown mirrored the interior of the First Hawaiian Center, where the Mapped art exhibition opened. People milled about, creating a traffic that joined these maps, connecting nine artists from New York, Maui, and Oahu.



Inger Tully is the curator of exhibitions for both the Contemporary Museum and First Hawaiian Bank. She formed the uniting idea for Mapped after observing what leading local artists were already working on.

“I saw about five to six artists incorporating maps into their work,” explained Tully. Noting the variety of art forms and media, she said, "Some of them had already been done, some were created for the show. Joyce Kozloff from New York City was already renowned for her work with maps."

Gaye Chan, the art department head at UHM, had a piece featured in Mapped titled “On Mobility.” Chan’s piece is made up of a magnified Google satellite map, depicting the border between the US and Mexico. Blank holes interrupt the landscape, as if they have been chewed through the piece. To create these voids, Chan layered book pages riddled with worm holes over the maps. How long can our borders stand when they vie with nature?

UH fiber teacher Maya Portner interweaves cartography and human anatomy in her piece, “Incise, Reduce, Divide.” Portner’s work uses a paper cast of many maps, dipped in wax and reinforced with wiring. Portner’s piece looks like a network, as if she’s pulled the routes from a map or the circulatory system from a person. “Incise, Reduce, Divide” is multi-dimensional—the fiber landscape rises from its wall mounting, while casting flat shadows that suggest mystery underneath the surface.

"Incise, Reduce, Divide" by Maya Portner

John Koga, the chief proprietor of the Nu’uanu Gallery, said that Mapped should “compliment what’s going on at the Contemporary Museum.” He found the First Hawaiian Center a viable place to show art and to educate younger generations.

It seems Koga was right. The central location of First Hawaiian Center made the display very accessible to the public, including passerbys downtown. The crowd was interspersed with the young and old, artists mingled with admirers, and excited conversations could be heard in every corner.

Boyd Sugiki’s glassworks greeted visitors on the second floor. "Elements" demonstrates where one may arrive after following a map. Stacks of pastel pink, yellow, and jade green glass echo mosque architecture from Sugiki’s travels in Turkey. His glass-blown shapes had to be perfectly proportioned, as each sculpture was made of fitted components.

"Elements" by Boyd Sugiki

Sculptor Jinja Kim used the world as a main ingredient in her work, including intricate pasta noodles fashioned from maps. Its title, “Jerusalem Meatballs: Jewish, Christian, Armenian, Muslim" brings to mind constant issues of struggle and consumption around the world. The separate pasta bowls may emphasize differences between cultures and religions in Jerusalem, but the common form of sustenance speaks universally.

Other artists represented at Mapped include Vincent Goudreau, Wendy Kawabata, Joyce Kozloff, Abigail Lee Kahilikia Romanchak, Laura Smith, and Lori Uyehara. For a truly diverse arts experience, go check them out at the First Hawaiian Center, located at 999 Bishop St.

Sculpture by Jinja Kim