Fri, Sep 05
|Hilo
Opening Reception | "Wondrous Light, Intentional Form.”
Openning at Wailoa Center at 5pm on Friday, September 5. Sponsored by the Hawaiʻi Island Art Alliance (HIAA) and the Hawaiʻi, Handweavers’ Hui (HHH), this exhibit pairs handwoven textiles from the Hawaiʻi, Handweavers’ Hui Biennial Juried Exhibition. This innovative show runs through September 25.
Time & Location
Sep 05, 2025, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Hilo, 200 Piopio St, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
About the event
Open to All and free of charge
“Wondrous Light, Intentional Form” is the pairing of craft in both soft and rigid forms. It
combines thirty-seven award winning handwoven textiles with two and three
dimensional “vessel” inspired artworks from Hawaiʻi artists from across the islands. The
biennial Handweavers exhibition, originally on display at the Downtown Art Center in
Honolulu, was inspired by the natural phenomenon of brilliant colors in the night sky and
features a vast spectrum of colors imbued in these warm, soft textiles. The juror for
these works was Suzie Liles, textile artist, weaving educator and owner of Eugene
Textile Center in Eugene, Oregon.
Alongside the handwoven works, are 50 works juried by renowned kālai ʻumeke (vessel
carver), educator, and internationally recognized expert on ʻumeke Hawaiʻi, Jamison
Keʻa Rosehill. “The term vessel can be represented in many ways,” Rosehill says, “I
[am] drawn to works that serve as vessels for story, memory, or emotion—pieces that
reflect the depth of where we come from and the complexities of how we connect to one
another and our ‘āina.”
The works of two fiber artists are also featured in the Fountain Gallery in this exhibit:
Quebec native and Mililani resident Ghislaine Chock and Honolulu born and raised Joan
Namkoong. Chock grew up in the textile world, visiting a neighborhood textile factory
and sewing her own clothes. Her work relies on the integration of natural dyes and
weaving, inspired by personal situations, events and travel. Namkoong began weaving
in the 1970s but focused on weaving when she moved to Waimea on the Hawaiʻi Island
in 2006. Through many workshops, and conferences and one-on-one encounters with
master weavers, she has become a small production weaver of scarves, shawls and
household items. Both teach a variety of classes with the HHH.
