This is a workshop for artists of all levels to expand beyond the focus of pure technique and to develop new approaches in their work. Whether one is new to artmaking and seeking an experience to unlock creativity, or is a seasoned artist hoping to gain new “tools” to add to their studio practice, this course offers approaches to “making” that will last well beyond the duration of the workshop.
The workshop comprises a series of exercises to stimulate artistic experimentation across 2- and 3- dimensions, borrowing techniques from millinery (hat making) wire construction, basketry, and drawing that will allow students to focus on the natural craft experience of “thinking with your hands”. Using the Hawaiian concept of kilo, participants will closely observe their surroundings and translate that experience into bent 18 gauge wire. An exercise that considers makawalu or "eight points-of-view" will be explored to create abstract drawings. Finally, we will explore the concept of kaona or "layered meanings" in our group reflection.
Participants will leave the workshop with strategies from both western art traditions and Hawaiian frameworks to stretch their imaginations. With ideas that are flexible to their individual materials, techniques and levels of expertise, all are invited to go beyond what was previously thought possible.
Maya Lea Portner is an artist and educator from Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Raised in Mānoa Valley, she earned a BFA (Sculpture) from Washington University School of Art in St. Louis and an MFA in Art (Fibers) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, where she was a student of Pat Hickman. She has been an instructor in art on O‘ahu for 20 years, and currently teaches at Leeward Community College, Pu‘uloa Campus. Her teaching, research and art exhibitions have taken her around the world: Italy, India, Senegal, Majuro Atoll (Micronesia), The Netherlands, Maine, Missouri, California and New York. Maya Portner is the 13th recipient of the prestigious Catherine E.B. Cox Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts, awarded biannually by the Honolulu Museum of Art.