(B2)The Natural and The Artificial

While living in Honolulu this summer, I was introduced to an approach to art that I had never experienced before on the mainland. As a teaching assistant to the Honolulu Academy of Arts I had free access to all exhibits and collections in the museum, but one exhibit in particular struck me. Honolulu-based sculptor, landscape designer, and naturalist Leland Miyano and his collection of work titled Historia: Naturalia Et Artificialia. This truly talented and unique artist uses natural and recycled materials native to the islands of Hawaii to investigate regeneration in nature and man's connection to this cycle. Miyano expresses his art through metaphor and respect for his materials which is both appropriate and successful in communicating his ideas of man's relationship to nature and how it is recycled and continuously changing throughout the process of life.

Although the collection is small, four pieces total, each piece reflects Miyano's great appreciation for our natural environment and his deep fascination with how we fit into it. The piece to the left titled Ars Sacra is a great example of how metaphor is used to explain this relationship. The sculpture is made from burnt redwood recycled from a fence, copper, driftwood and a leaf insect. To me, it symbolizes how man and nature share the process of growth. The natural form of the wood represents nature and the manipulated wood in the form of a hand, represents man. Supported by both is the form of a seed or an embryo with a sign of life inside.

Leland Miyano's use of materials as part of the subject matter of his art is genius. His approach to communicating his artistic pursuit is interesting and fun to try to figure out. My only complaint is why only four? I want more.


Muku: The Dark of the Moon (left),
burnt poplar, antique tooth







Iliahi (right), burnt poplar wood, oak broom, driftwood, burnt redwood, granite boundary marker



Hear the artist speak about his work: