HPU Exhibits Take Look At Dolls, Birds

This photo, 'Barbie Gets Hitched,' by Tracy Wright Corvo, is part of a new show opening Jan. 20 at Hawaii Pacific University's Hawaii Loa campus gallery. Photo from Tracy Wright Corvo.

By RACHEL BREIT

Hawaii Pacific University opens the year in its Windward campus gallery with two artist exhibitions that run Jan. 20-March 1: photographs by Tracy Wright Corvo and artwork by William Williams III.

“Girls Will Be Girls” is an ongoing photo series by Wright Corvo of young girls playing with Barbie dolls in unconventional ways, such as barbecuing Barbie’s head in a pink trash can to make s’mores, throwing darts at her, dragging her like cans behind a tricycle. Conceived, directed and photographed by Wright Corvo, the 16 photos of the series feature funny things a little girl just might do, in theory, with her Barbies.

“It’s fun and humorous,” said Wright Corvo. “Children and parents who have been involved think it’s hysterical. But some people don’t feel the same way. Either you love it or you hate it. With this innate controversy, I knew it was going to be a good personal project and a good art project.”

This is the first time the series has been shown in the U.S.; it was previously shown in Europe. Printed on metal to bring out the Barbie-inspired pinks and bright color, the photographs are colorful, glossy and appear “high def.”

Williams’ painting series, called Abstractus Auspicii Ad Mortis, depicts dead birds in the street as “a symbol of dreams, of flight, of freedom run over without any notice.” Flayed feathers and viscera are depicted realistically, but the pattern-like visual texture and composition push them to the realm of abstraction. The artist gives pause and reflection to the meaningless, unnoticed death of birds at the hands of modern society and technology.

The gallery is located in the academic center and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, call 544-0228.