2021 Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA)
As part of the museum-wide exhibition Joyful Return, HoMA is honored to partner with The Fuzz Hawaiʻi to present Recover. The Fuzz Hawaiʻi is an ever-changing group of fiber graffiti artists whose handcrafted yarn bombs shift the practice of knitting from the domestic sphere into the urban sphere. Their use of textiles brings a contrasting softness to the built environment in a way that is cozy, familiar, and non-destructive: common household materials become part of knitted, crocheted, and sewn installations, making “street art” more welcoming to the public.
Recover incorporates handmade panels once displayed at Spalding House, Honolulu, as well as community contributions of repurposed and new materials to adorn architectural elements, planters, and museum structures with colorful textiles. It transforms the columns surrounding this courtyard into the trunks of ‘ōhi‘a lehua trees, complete with branches, foliage, and inflorescences.
The ‘ōhi‘a tree — culturally and ecologically significant to Hawai‘i — is currently endangered due to Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death, and this disease is a pressing environmental concern in the state. The inclusion of ‘ōhi‘a allows us to focus on the recovery of the trees and the ecosystems they help support. Besides representing natural healing, as one of the first signs of life returning to areas flattened by lava flows, the indigenous plant also represents the uniting of Lehua with her lover ‘Ōhi‘a, in Hawaiian mythology. Both may be seen as metaphors for visitors returning to the museum.
Press
University of Hawaiʻi News “Alumni Create Textile Installation for Honolulu Museum of Arts’ Joyful Return”
Honolulu Museum of Art HoMA Magazine December 2021 - February 2022
The Fuzz Hawai‘i
The Fuzz Hawai'i (Instagram: @TheFuzzHawaii) is a group of fiber artists currently organized by Granny Squared, archiPURLago (@archiPURLago), & Aknitymous(@aknitymous). Through shifting membership and crowdsourcing, this hui has been crafting colorful yarnbombs since 2011, with tags showing up in the Honolulu area and on all seven continents! Previous collaborations with HoMA include Sunrise, Sunset (2012) and Cades Camouflage (2014) at Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House.
Contact
TheFUZZ.Hawaii@gmail.com
2014 Cades Pavilion at the then-Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House (Spalding House as a museum closed in December 2019). A project by TheFuzz Hawaiʻi (Instagram: @TheFuzzHawaii).
“The piece bridges the gap between one generation of artists and the next, subtly connecting the dots in the history of Hawai‘i art in a way that’s playful and witty and conceptually interesting. ArchiPURLago explains, “This piece was keeping in our theme of time, and changes over time, and, with the museum having gone through its own change with the merge, we were trying to reflect upon what’s old and now looking forward to what’s new.” - FLUX Magazine, Jared Yamanuna, “A Tight-Knit Crew”, 2012
Photo credit: FLUX Magazine
