A new kind of print installation at Feast Art Center
by Alec Clayton
Published in the Weekly Volcano, Dec. 13, 2018
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| Detail of Kanani Miyamoto’s ‘The In-between’, photo by Alec Clayton |
Currently on view at Feast Art Center is an
installation called The In-Between by
Kanani Miyamoto. It is an installation of printed images that is nigh on
impossible to describe because to the best of my knowledge it is a print
process that’s seldom if ever before been done. According to the Feast Website,
“Miyamoto pushes the standards of printmaking in the form of large-scale mixed-media
original prints and installations. She combines copper plate etchings with
screen prints and wooden block prints to create rich and unique installations.”
What ends up on the walls are images that look for all the world like paintings
executed directly on the walls — but unlike mural paintings, they can be
removed without doing damage to the images or to the wall and installed again
on other walls or in other configurations. (I would love to see Miyamoto come
into the gallery weekly or even daily and remove the images and rearrange them.)
Also printed and mounted on the wall, presumably
by Miyamoto, is a statement describing “the in-between” as “a mysterious place maybe a place of tension, maybe a place
to create new stories. A place between now and the next thing.” That
description would certainly hold true if Miyamoto did in fact change the work
on display.
Also printed on the wall is a quote from
filmmaker Sabaah Folayan: "I'm tired of seeing pictures of men with
flowers and the title is Redefining Masculinity. Boy if you don't put that
bouquet down and start demonstrating emotional respect, communication skills,
and support for women.” These statements are printed in all capital letters and
are quoted here with punctuation transcribed verbatim.
The printed images are of flowers and vines with
heavy, snake-like tendrils that bend around corners and expand onto the
ceiling. Could this be called “redefining masculinity?” Perhaps. The heaviness
of the vines could be perhaps be viewed as masculine and aggressive, but I will
not make that assessment.
It looks like paint, but it is not. The edges of
leaves and vines appear hard and precise as do the lines. The leaves and
flowers look like watercolor paint, and the patterns on the vines look like
snakeskin. Only upon close — very close — inspection does it become clear that
what looks like flat areas of color is actually transparent, and other forms,
shapes and colors can be seen below the surface as if things seen through
colored glass.
The images are sensual, and there is much more
to them than appears at first glance. They can be easily dismissed as
decoration, but should not be.
This exhibition is part of a yearlong project in
partnership with yehaw celebrating indigenous artists in cities across the
Puget Sound area. For more information of yeehaw, go to https://yehawshow.com/.
Kanani Miyamoto’s The In Between,
noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, and by appointment,
through Jan. 11, Feast Arts Center, 1402 S. 11th
St., Tacoma, www.feastarts.com
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