In chemistry, to “deliquesce” is to absorb water to the point of liquifying and melting away, as some salts may do.
In a new exhibition at the East Hawaii Cultural Center, visual and performance artist Mary Babcock takes this concept and applies it to sea level rise and climate change in the Pacific. Nature absorbs the impact of human interventions, but dissolution may be the end result.
The exhibition is on view now through Jan. 27.
Babcock’s primary medium is household wax paper, which she chooses for its paradoxical and metaphorical nature — it is meant to preserve and protect, yet is itself fragile and impermanent.
“Her works, which are highly labor-intensive, address our often myopic attempts to harness nature’s power for self-interest, and the reverberations of such arrogance.” according to a EHCC press release.
Inspired by multiple narratives from across the Pacific, Babcock mends her pieces together as a personal and political gesture of restoration and repair.
Mending is a central theme in the work of Babcock’s work. She is currently a professor in sculpture and expanded practices in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and has exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally.
Her work appears in significant public collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and multiple U.S. embassies.
For more information, visit EHCC online at ehcc.org, call (808) 961-5711, or visit EHCC at 141 Kalakaua St.. Current gallery and office hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
