The Pacific Island Printmakers will present “Jigsaw Plus” from Friday through May 29 at Wailoa Center in Hilo, featuring works by artists John McCaskill, Nora Yamanoha, Andrea Pro, Margaret Barnaby, Lisa Louise Adams, Henry Bianchini, Elizabeth Miller and Jonathan Sudler.
The Pacific Island Printmakers will present “Jigsaw Plus” from Friday through May 29 at Wailoa Center in Hilo, featuring works by artists John McCaskill, Nora Yamanoha, Andrea Pro, Margaret Barnaby, Lisa Louise Adams, Henry Bianchini, Elizabeth Miller and Jonathan Sudler.
The public is invited to the opening reception for the artists from 5-7 p.m. Friday. This event is free and light refreshments will be served.
Margaret Barnaby and Lisa Louis Adams will also conduct a free hand printing demonstration from 1-4 p.m. Wednesday, May 28.
In 2013, the group developed a project based on 28-by-42-inch, six-piece plywood jigsaw puzzles. Each participant designed and carved their own puzzle. In addition, the group worked together on a puzzle, each person carving a different alphabet or pictograph on their piece.
Then, the group spent a day in the studio printing the woodcut puzzle in a variety of ways. The project was so stimulating the printmakers decided to experiment with new sizes, shapes and techniques in puzzle printing and include three guest sculptors in the 2014 exhibition in Wailoa’s Main Gallery.
Guest sculptor Henry Bianchini describes his process of excavating fragments of materials and previous work from his studio and modifying them as creating “a work that reflects the nature of life, past and present, while expressing the notion of a puzzle on many levels: intellectually, philosophically and psychologically.”
Elizabeth Miller has created works in metal and mixed media that reference the process of “archetypal symbols rising from the depths of our collective unconscious to help us solve ‘puzzles’ in the outer world.”
Having experienced a steep learning curve on the previous woodcut puzzles, Margaret Barnaby said her new print reflects a favorite summertime activity of doing jigsaw puzzles with family and friends. Andrea Pro designed and printed an elaborate puzzle based on the tiled interior of an architecturally grandiose Turkish mosque.
Call the Wailoa Center at 933-0416 or email wailoa@yahoo.com for more information.