Take a leaf out of these books | Auckland Lifestyle News | Health, Fashion, Food and Wine in Auckland

Those wondering what to do with any excess books after the merger of all of Auckland's libraries could look at an Hawaiian artist's exhbition in Parnell.

Wendy Kawabata uses the simple book form as the basis for her installations.

Withdrawn from Circulation is a major work comprised of books pulled from the collection of public libraries in Honolulu, Hawaii. By exaggeratedly dog-earing the corners of each page, "the books are transformed from refuse of past private experiences, formal objects turned inside out. They have become the barnacles on the walls of dying libraries."

Wendy Kawabata holds the chair of Assistant Professor of Art, Department of Art and Art History, University of Hawai'i, Manoa, Honolulu. Kawabata has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Purchase Award, der Zeitgenosse exhibition, Eastern Washington University Gallery of Art, Cheney, WA. Wendy Kawabata has exhibited widely in the United States of America.

Her practice is closely aligned to the process of drawing, in addition to, the feminine craft tradition and daily domestic acts. She employs a predominantly modular and repetitive approach such as small mark making, folding, stacking, pulling or poking. It is an approach conducted within a space of making which is traditionally seen to reinforce feminine, maternal, and domestic roles.

"I use the vocabulary of drawing in combination with nontraditional materials such as books, wool, and wood. These materials interest me because of the histories of use they bear and the associations they trigger outside the realm of art."

Read on

Withdrawn from Circulation, opening preview Thursday, September 9 at 5.30pm.

Wendy Kawabata's Outer Edge Project runs from September 13 to October 11.
Sanderson Contemporary Art, 251 Parnell Rd, Parnell.
For more information, ph 374 4476 or see www.sanderson.co.nz