Recollection . Betty Jane Lau
An informal listing of work. Spiraling out from the 'piko'; I weave two quilts that exist as one. Two stories echo, compliment, or debate each other. They are in "syzygy"; forever yoked together. In the tradition of quilts I use thrift store finds, or fabrics gifted to me, or salvaged throw aways; I'm always on the cheap. I question what is considered ugly vs beautiful. And I hope to tease out a story of interest while teasing the eye.
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Saturday, April 2, 2022
Sunday, March 27, 2022
#61 is delayed until bridal gown gets trimmed. So on to #62 and in the mean time, if you're so interested...here's my resume.
Resume:
Betty Jane Lau
EDUCATION:
1980 MFA 1976 BFA
EXHIBITS:
March 2022
School of the Art Institute of Chicago University of Hawaii, Manoa
2022 Excellence in Fibers VII,
Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY. (Petra Slinkard, Melinda Watt)
2021 DAC The Halls: Invitational, Honolulu, HI. (Gina Bacon, artist)
2021 4th Midwest Open, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL. (Brenda Oelbaum, artist)
2020 Home: a Virtual Exhibit, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL. (Jennifer Weigel, artist)
2019 Truth as a Contested Concept, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, (invited by Indira Freitas
Johnson)
2019 Solo Exhibition, It Takes a Village, Oak Park Public Library, Oak Park, IL.
2018 Solo Exhibition, Syzygy: To Yoke or Pair Together, Firecat Projects Gallery, Chicago, IL
2017 Solo Exhibition, Woven Quilts, 4th Presbyterian Church, Chicago, IL.
2016 Quilt Expo, Alliant Energy Center, Madison, WI. (Nancy Zieman and WI Public TV)
1988 3rd International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition, University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu, HI. (Lili Dujourie, artist; James Surls, artist; Javier Martinez, Director of the Museo de Monterrey in Mexico. [catalogue])
1983 Solo Exhibition, To Hing Chock, Beatrice and the Sandalwood Mountains, Contemporary Arts Center, Honolulu, HI.
1982 1st International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition, University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu, HI. (Marisol, artist; Morio Shinoda, artist. [catalogue])
1981 Good As Gold, Alternative Materials in American Jewelry, Smithsonian, Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC. (Lloyd E. Herman, Guest Curator, Director, Renwick Gallery. [catalogue])
1980 Solo Exhibition, Sculptures of Impermanence, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago.
1976 Tradition American Style, Contemporary Arts Center, Honolulu, HI. (Ruth Tamura, artist)
1975 Art Hawaii II, 25th annual Exhibition, Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, HI. (Dextra
Frenkel, artist) COLLECTIONS:
1983 Marcia Morse 1983 Persis Corporation
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
“Excellence in Fiber VII”, Fiber Arts Now, 2022 Spring edition. https://fiberartnow.wordpress.com/
Evangeline Reid, “Syzygy: To Yoke or Pair Together”, New Art Examiner, Vol. 32 No. 4 March/ April 2018. 28. http://www.newartexaminer.org/archive.html
Tom Klobe, “3rd International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition”, University of Hawaii Art Gallery, 1988. 74.
Jay Hartwell, “Artist Uses Collages and Laths to Construct Her Own Images”, The Honolulu Advertiser, August 19, 1983
John Brandenburg, “OU’s ‘Shoebox’ sculptures tap artists’ imagination”, Oklahoma City Times, Sept. 15, 1983
Tom Klobe, “The First International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition”, University of Hawaii Art Gallery 1982. 58.
Lloyd E. Herman, “Good As Gold: Alternative Materials in American Jewelry”, Smithsonian Institution, 1981. 10, 20.
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Thursday, December 9, 2021
#60. 'Waltzing With Bears / Uncle Walter' 2021.12 66.5 x 60 Very lumpy and bumpy. American fabrics. Bears gifted from Missouri.
I was contrasting these dark bears to light flowers and kittens; when I stumbled upon a song.
My ukulele group sang 'Waltzing With Bears', written by Dr. Seuss and later interpreted by other musicians. I was inspired to learn that this song is an anthem for some gays and lesbians.
Our Uncle Walter's not right in the head
He's been that way all his life, my mother said
Its not that he's violent or falls down the stairs
Its just he goes waltzing, waltzing with bears
He goes wa wa wa waltzing, waltzing with bears
Raggy bears, shaggy bears, baggy bears too
There's nothing on earth Uncle Walter won't do
So he can go waltzing, wa wa wa waltzing
He can go waltzing, waltzing with bears
Repeat #58. Appalachian Moose / Hawaiian Plastic Lei. Finally finished binding in December. 51" x 41". Tennessee thrift store and "silk" scarf from Economy Shop.
Monday, August 2, 2021
#59. Fae's Bear Hides in Honolulu. 7/2021. 46-47 height x 34.5-36 width. Honolulu sourced fabrics. Flower print sarongs from Costco and tapa design cloth from Central Union Thrift Store. Of course the bear came from the mainland.
Thursday, June 10, 2021
#58. 'Appalachian Moose with a Plastic Lei' 51" x 41" 2021.6 Moose hides while the other side dances the hula.
Friday, April 30, 2021
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Thursday, February 25, 2021
#57. 'Dolly Parton's Christmas Present' 2021.2 58" x 55" Mostly American with some Japanese, Hawaiian, African, Indonesian fabrics; some left over from making Covid-19 masks. NFS. Gifted to Dolly 2021.3.18.
A podcast hosted by Jad Abumrad led me to Dolly Parton's song 'Coat of Many Colors'. This inspired me to make as traditional a quilt as I could. It's worth listening to 'Dolly Parton's America'.
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/dolly-partons-america
Saturday, November 14, 2020
Thursday, October 1, 2020
55. 'Juneteenth-20 / Heroics' 2020.9 51"x41" African wax print, Kente design, and Civil War pictures on cloth. Gifted and found materials.
Thursday, July 23, 2020
54. 'Spring 2020 / Riot of Colors' 2020.6 68" x 68" if arranged on a pedestal or 73" x 68" stretched flat. Contemporary cloths, cottons and synthetics.
Spring 2020 was unlike any other spring. The idea of an idyllic planned flower beds surrounded by a white picket fence turns into a mayhem of flowers confined by black bars. "A riot of colors". I stripped several floral patterns and mixed them up but also had them "randomly" clump together. Aerial drone videos on the 6:00 News reminded me of how small and lost and random we can be. One side is without color, quite dead. And the hashtag is just another unfathomable new change.
Saturday, July 11, 2020
Monday, May 25, 2020
Art-In-Place 5/20 - 6/20. Holiday and weather permitting.
https://terrainexhibitions.org/ https://www.cnlprojects.org/artinplace
