A selected group of artists has been invited to collaborate and create some unique works of art. They were free to choose to work with anyone they wanted to… artist or not! One partner or several… The project is focusing on the process leading to the creation as well as to the completion of the artwork. With the help of coaches and researchers in the field of relationships, the participating artists have been led through inspiring processes to enhance their capacity to relate on a deeper level: to themselves, their artistry, their creative partners and the endless possibilities that may arise from this exploration.
About this video
This video documents the workshop concept behind the exhibit: professional coaches led the participating artists through practices of presence — distinguishing intuition, which “speaks very gently,” from intellect and instinct — and challenged them to leave their “known zone,” where every choice comes from the past and the predictable. Artists speak candidly about vulnerability as strength, attachment to outcomes, and the moment a partner’s marks take a painting somewhere neither could have gone alone.
The collaborations shown span generations and disciplines: a woodworker honoring the ko’ihonua — genealogical chant — of a collaborator from a distinguished hula lineage, in Hāna-grown woods and natural dyes; a ceramicist’s textures handed to a painter to transform into rusted patinas; couples and friends passing canvases back and forth; and a prayer wheel of hand-bent metal set into the exposed heart of an old-growth pine from Polipoli — one tree, one spin, one thought at a time, a prayer for the healing of the earth. As the gallery’s art director says of these shows: it’s hard to get people to come to openings on Maui — here, it’s hard to keep them away.
