The MACC’s Schaefer International Gallery Biennial 2023 award winners announced

With the opening of Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s inaugural edition of the MACC Biennial in
Schaefer International Gallery, running now through Aug. 26, the Center has announced the recipients of three prestigious awards for MACC Biennial 2023.

• Kaua‘i artist Sally French was named the winner of the Juror’s Choice Award of $5,000 for her mixed media work, Futterwacken.
• O‘ahu artist Susan Thomas received the Award of Excellence in 2-Dimensional Media for $2,500 for her piece Flower.
• Maui artist Claudia Johnson received the Award of Excellence in 3-Dimensional Media for $2,500 for her sculptural work, Solace.

All three award winners were determined by the juror of the exhibition, Dr. Andreas Marks, who selected for exhibit 40 artworks by 38 artists statewide, representing a cross-disciplinary spectrum of conceptual depth, technical prowess, and explorative forms.

The exhibit is open from Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with free admission.

MACC Biennial is a new, statewide juried exhibition showcasing the voices of artists from across Hawai‘i through an open call for contemporary work. Artists residing in Hawai‘i had the opportunity to submit newly created work that expresses relevant ideas and interprets our human connection. The call was open to a variety of media including painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture, textile, mixed media, photography, video, installation, and digital media.

Entries were considered over the course of a competitive two-round jurying process, with all works reviewed digitally for round 1, and selected works proceeding to round 2 for in-person observation at four island sites on O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i Island, and Maui.

The juror for this exhibition was Dr. Andreas Marks, the Mary Griggs Burke Curator of Japanese and Korean Art and Director of the Clark Center for Japanese Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Dr. Marks, who has curated exhibitions in a variety of media from pre-modern to contemporary art and visual culture at 38 museums, said, “Contemporary art should be free and without boundaries, but it can respond to the past to lead to new findings. Most importantly, it has to excite with compelling ideas and accomplished technique.”

Sally French’s mixed media work, Futterwacken, is a tour de force of materials (atomized acrylic, wax pencil, India ink, rhinestones, faux fur, rag paper, sanded polymer resin) taking an unconventional approach in the form of two panels installed across a corner wall.

A prominent artist and the recipient of the MACC Biennial 2023 Juror’s Choice Award, French was born in Stockton, California and currently lives and works in Kalaheo, Kaua‘i. She has exhibited extensively in Hawai‘i for over 50 years, including at Honolulu Museum of Art, The Contemporary Museum, First Hawaiian Center and Hawai‘i State Art Museum – with numerous artworks in the Art in Public Places Collection.

She was featured in the Schaefer International Gallery exhibit Wunderlust – The Keeper’s Tale in 2008, served as a juror for Schaefer Portrait Challenge 2012, and was a selected artist in SPC 2015 and 2022, with her self-portrait receiving top accolades with the Jurors’ Choice Award in SPC 2022.

“These significant recognitions dignify the Biennial as an important new opportunity for our local arts community,” said French. “I am so honored that Juror Andreas Marks selected Futterwaken as the Juror’s Choice Award for MACC Biennial 2023. The award contributes greatly to the continuation of my studio practice, and the acknowledgement confirms that my work is understood and relevant. I am especially grateful, as Futterwaken addresses the sensitive issue of the usage of nuanced gender pronouns with its differing points of view, as displayed by two panels on opposing walls that meet at a protruding large mouth, signaling that conversation will bring a better understanding of each other.”

O‘ahu artist Susan Thomas was recognized with the Award of Excellence in Two-Dimensional Media for her large-scale mixed media work on paper, Flower. Of Thomas’ work, Dr. Marks said, “It is a bold move by Susan Thomas in times when there seems to be a fad for abstraction in contemporary art, to create the collage Flower based on a pattern using pre-manufactured shooting targets. The work is evocative of a mandala, a spiritual tool, and guides us to more awareness about current issues in the United States.”

Thomas received a BFA in glass from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 1992 and began a career as a conservation technician in the museum field shortly afterwards, which she continues to this day while maintaining an ongoing studio practice. Her work has been included in group and juried exhibitions throughout Hawai‘i, including Artists of Hawai‘i at Honolulu Museum of Art and multiple years of the Hawai‘i Craftsmen Annual Statewide Exhibition, where her work has received several awards.

Claudia Johnson of Maui received the Award of Excellence in Three-Dimensional Media for her sculptural work, Solace, assembled of bundles of strawberry guava and Java plum branches that were each painted in a tonal gradation.

“Art-making can be a healing process in challenging times, and Claudia Johnson’s Solace refers to that regenerative potential. The piece was constructed of seemingly simple but powerful elements that were connected through repetitive steps until the circle was complete,” said Dr. Marks.

Johnson received her MA in studio art with an emphasis on fiber sculpture from San Francisco State University, and after relocating to Maui, worked with Hui No‘eau Visual Arts Center for over a decade as their Program and Exhibits Director.

She has exhibited her artwork in juried and invitational shows throughout Hawai‘i and the US for the last 30 years, including The Contemporary Museum Biennial of Hawai‘i Artists 2005 and Hawai‘i Art Now at Honolulu Museum of Art. She has been recognized with numerous awards and corporate commissions, with her work included in the Art in Public Places Collection of the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

MACC Biennial is a new, statewide juried exhibition showcasing the voices of artists from across Hawai‘i through an open call for contemporary work. Artists residing in Hawai‘i had the opportunity to submit newly created work in a variety of media, with 40 artworks by 38 artists selected for exhibition.

Schaefer International Gallery is open during exhibitions from Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., as well as before select performances in Castle Theater and Yokouchi Pavilion. Admission is FREE and open to the public.