“Technique and Texture” mini-exhibit at State Art Museum features prints, collages from State public art collection

Technique and Texture 

• Exhibit dates: Saturday August 23 – Saturday September 27, 2025. 
• Exhibit location: Ground floor glass case across from the gift shop. 
• Capitol Modern: the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum is open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and evening hours on the first and third Fridays of the month, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. 250 South Hotel Street, Honolulu HI 96813.

About the “Technique and Texture” mini-exhibition 

A small survey of traditional printmaking mediums combined with a selection of collage and mixed media pieces. All artworks from the Art in Public Places Collection of the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.  Co-curated by SFCA Art in Public Places Program art installers Pete Powlison and José González.

Collage has its roots in traditional crafts like patchwork quilting and scrapbooking, but it surged in popularity in the early 20^th century with the rise of photography and mass printing. Pioneers like Picasso and the Cubists used collage to develop their distinctive visual language, while Dada artists of the 1920s – such as Hannah Höch – employed it to delivery sharp social commentary. 

In the mid-century, the form continued to evolve through the works of artists like Henri Matisse and Romare Bearden, and to break further into the 3^rd dimension with the assemblages of Robert Rauschenberg and Joseph Cornell’s shadowboxes. More recently, digital tools have expanded collage’s possibilities, allowing artists to work with photomontage and digital compositions.  

A defining aspect of collage is the assembly of an artistic composition from disparate elements – a concept that has inspired new ways of thinking about composition in many other art media. Another part of collage’s appeal lies in its accessibility: the materials are often easy to find around the house, scissors, glue, old magazines, found boject – making it a medium open to everyone. 

Exploring varieties of textures and materials is a classic collage technique. Another is juxtaposing or recontextualizing found images or objects – which can be a potent method of cultural commentary or simply present a creative new way of encountering familiar images, sparking surprising alternative associations in the mind. 

As you explore the museum, keep an eye out for examples of collage techniques, whether in physically assembled works or surprising image juxtapositions that lead your imagination into unexpected territory. 

Artworks in the exhibit 

Links go to artwork entry in the online SFCA Art in Public Places Collection database.

• Kim Chung, “Floating Letter”, mixed media sculpture, 1973.
• Reiko Brandon, “Message”, mixed media textiles/fibers, 1984.
• Hon-Chew Hee, “My Studio Window”, serigraph print, 1954.
• Meidor Hu, “Tools of the Trade”, drypoint, intaglio print, ~1995.
• Marcia Morse, “Sight Lines/Fault Lines”, mixed media.
• James Groleau, “Militarismus”, color mezzotint print, 1999.
• Donna Westerman, “Water Under the Bridge”, reduction woodcut print, 2018.
• Linda Kāne, “Sewing for All Occasions”, encaustic and mixed media, 2022.
• Scott Groeniger, “Outlets, As Indicated”, digital archival pigment print on mulberry paper on panel, 2024.
• Scott Groeniger, “Psilogramma Increta (exit velocity)”, archival pigment transfer, white marble powder, ossein gelatin, acrylic polymer, on wood panel. 2023.
• Emmett Merrill, “Dionysus”, lithograph print on BFK paper, 2023.

Edits

• Exhibition graphic added September 19, 2025.