New Taiji Terasaki Exhibit Opens Sept. 22 at MACC’s Schaefer Gallery

Japanese American artist Taiji Terasaki will make his Schaefer International Gallery debut with his new exhibit RESET/RESHAPE, that runs Sept. 22 to Dec. 18 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Schaefer Gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm, and admission is free.

Conceived against the backdrop of the tumultuous and historic, social and cultural events of 2020, Terasaki’s  RESET/RESHAPE exhibition presents a series of artistic proposals for rethinking the cyclic nature of societal  systems and patterns. The exhibition presents a constellation of intertwined themes ranging from societal and  racial inequality, climate change, combating food insecurity and scientific and technological innovation in art and  society. 

The exhibition uses a wide array of media — including augmented reality (AR), ceramics, film, installations and works on paper — to present an immersive and emotionally charged experience that focuses on hope, disruption and collective wisdom.

With the help of his studio team, Terasaki will transform the gallery into a visual narrative that documents the artist’s pandemic journey, capturing the highly charged emotions of 2020, while inspiring hope for the future. 

Schaefer Gallery Director Neida Bangerter said: “Our recent re-opening of the gallery gives us focus towards our fall season of programming with an ambitious multipart exhibition by leading Honolulu-based artist Taiji Terasaki. His works emphatically resonate at a human level and share the challenges and collective spirit we have been facing on a global scale. He brings us honesty and optimism with a multimedia infusion of contemporary history and resilience.” 

A highlight of the Schaefer Gallery exhibit includes the 2020 work Transcendients: 100 Days of Covid-19, which was  recently exhibited at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. A large-scale weaving  project created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it features everyday heroes who rose up to help others  during the pandemic, healthcare workers who risked their lives, and includes the late George Floyd, whose death inspired global protests over racial injustice.

Terasaki’s unique interactive works include Disrupt The Pattern, orthographic projection on live mist, that capture a subtle and poetically ephemeral technique that is performative and fleeting. 

Works created on the occasion of the exhibition include Terasaki’s experimentation with emerging technologies  both as a conceptual and functional tool. His QR code-inspired weavings entitled Quick Response (2021) feature portraits of 10 unsung heroes and incorporate elements of augmented reality. 

“This exhibition serves as a collective journey as we emerge from the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, with more awareness of our daily thoughts and actions and their subsequent consequences,” said Terasaki, who is based in Honolulu. “As such, this exhibition aims to transform tragedy to reflect upon the resilience of individuals and communities from all walks of life, from the Hawaiian Islands, the Continental U.S. and beyond, who have undergone physical and mental upheavals, brought on by the pandemic and its associated  health and economic issues. I am deeply grateful to these individuals who have shared their testimonies with me and inspired me to create the works in RESET/RESHAPE.”