SUDHA/L.Mitchell/WORD COUNT 1,100
In India, “Sudha” means nectar of the gods, and that’s a fitting description of the high-end artwork showcased at the newly opened Sudha’s Art Gallery in downtown Hilo.
“We feature the finest quality contemporary art on the island,” Indian-born owner Sudha Achar said Tuesday afternoon. She was speaking from the breezy renovated gallery occupying about 3,000 square feet of open space on the ground floor of The Moses Building on Kamehameha Avenue.
“The style is contemporary, local artists,” Achar said. True, but these are not your average local artists. “They are very good artists who like to live on The Big Island but who are internationally known.”
Achar made her comments at the site of the former Chase Gallery during an impromptu showing of the nearly 200 paintings, sculptures, woodwork pieces and other objects d’art now on display. “The paintings are from realistic to impressionistic, to expressionistic to abstract.”
One of the most striking items, however, is not on canvas. A huge, dark and rustic high-backed chair dominates the showroom floor at the front of the gallery. “It’s a real traffic stopper,” Achar said of the towering piece of “utilitarian art” handmade by wood sculpture Jeff Roth. The massive seat is a hand-chiseled cross section of a mango tree trunk; the tribal throne-like back is Koa.
Like most of the fine woodcrafts and furniture in the showroom, ohia, koa, mango and other indigenous species are de rigueur.
The sculptures, crafts, canvas paintings and other artwork have two things in common; they are the work of talented, professional, and even world-renowned artists, all from Hilo or elsewhere on The Big Island.
Several other themes underlie Achar’s vision to open the gallery. First, “It’s a place for us to be together,” she said, referring to Patrick Freehill, her husband, business partner and fellow doctor of psychiatry. Second, Achar is director of the board that oversees the East Hawai’i Cultural Center and its three public galleries. Although not formally associated with EHCC, Sudha’s is an extension of the counsel’s “mission to preserve, perpetuate and promote the arts of all cultures of our diverse community,” she said. The idea is to provide a permanent and constant repository of “mature, high quality art,” she said. “It’s a beautiful way of showcasing the artists.” Freehill added that the endeavor reflects “our interest in supporting and improving downtown Hilo” vis-a-vi the ambitious master plan of growth and transformation known as Envision Downtown Hilo 2025. Finally, the new gallery serves as an outlet for Achar’s own artwork. An accomplished artist who has apprenticed with renowned names in the art world, Achar has nearly 30 pieces on display.
Although her work is currently featured among the offerings of nearly 50 artists, “As time goes on we will feature an artist every few weeks,” she said.
Having moved to Hilo from Portland, Oregon, in the mid-seventies, Achar said that over time she has grown to “know the artists on the island and the quality of the art, so that has given me a headstart on choosing the best artists.”
The gallery is designed precisely for that type of revolving showcase. A series of portable partitions allows for countless configurations to accommodate collections large or small. “We can create intimate spaces,” said Freehill, and, “From time to time we’ll try to emphasize bigger interior space.”
“The configuration allows the works to be seen up close and from a distance, and it also gives us more wall space,” he said.
The entire high-ceilinged interior is a soft off-white, which doesn’t distract from either rich or subtle colors of the artwork. Plus, track lights and a sky window provide flexibility and variation of lighting intensity and focus.
That setup appeared inviting enough on a recent afternoon, when passersby drifted steadily through the wide open double doors into the well-lit and well-balanced display room.
The gallery front is dominated by “furniture.” Although, that hardly seems the proper word to describe the gracefully handcrafted rocker or the chair-and-ottoman set painstakingly inlaid with small, alternating squares of individually chiseled and sanded light and dark wood.
The ottoman set is the work of Hilo artist Perry Policicchio, as are several other of the gallery’s fine wood creations, including a luxurious armoire and a strikingly oversized hand-woven basket. Both pieces, like much of Policicchio’s work, incorporate and interweave contrasting wood colors, such as from the koa, mango and oak.
The nearby wall offers a sampling of the Hawaiiana that understandably abound within the gallery. One group of paintings, utilizing earth colors and bold, swirling strokes, is by Avi Kiriaty. Locals may remember him as the aspiring painter who labored from an upstairs studio in the Moses Building and sold his work at the Hilo Farmers Market.
On the opposite wall hang pieces representing a variety of artists and techniques. There is the bright and colorful “fiber art” of Swedish-born Ragnhild Langlet, who taught at the Art Institute of Chicago and at USC-Berkley.
Directly across from Langlet’s pieces are surreal photographs by Yukako Karr, whose multipaneled manipulated creations have been described as “arresting and evocative.”
At the rear of gallery, past the smooth and polished abstract driftwood sculpture, is a door leading to what is now a workroom.
“In here, we’re designing a living space,” Achar said, launching into the couple’s plans to create a private place that mimics a homey living room. There, customers will be able to consider a particular piece without the distractions of the gallery floor.
“When people are in a gallery, they’re often overwhelmed,” she said. “Even for me sometimes, I’m like a deer caught in the headlights.”
Isolating a piece of art and viewing it in that environment, said both Achar and Freehill, is entirely appropriate considering the investment. While some prints and photos are affordable, starting around $25, much of the art in Sudha’s is indeed fine. One young man, drawn in from the sidewalk, tested a piece of “furniture” that likely costs more than the car he drives.
“We would hope that these would be heirloom pieces of lasting value that can be passed down to children and grandchildren,” Freehill said.
Other coming attractions at Sudha’s, which opened in May, include a section devoted to books about art and artists, and a book searching service to locate hard-to-find titles. Also, Achar expects to soon move in several of her stone sculptures, and the couple are planning an open house celebration in the fall to coincide with their 25th wedding anniversary.
Sudha’s Art Gallery is located at 100 Kamehameha Ave. in Hilo. The phone number is (808) 934-0009.
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