By Staff Reports
(Honolulu)– The Light We See, Light We Are is a visual conversation between photographers Alison Beste and Lisa Hornak. Beste and Hornak were connected by University of Hawaii’s Pacific New Media program last year and began collaborating in September 2013. While their work differs in content, they quickly found similarities in their aesthetics and core themes. In both artists’ work, light becomes a powerful vehicle in which to document the tenuous space between the organic and artificial. When Hornak relocated from Hauula, Hawaii to Rome, Italy in January 2014, Beste and Hornak initiated a call and response visual exercise via email. One artist sent a photograph and the other responded with a supplemental image similar in theme, visual content, and/or emotion. Over the course of six months, the artists created a dialogue of six “visual conversations” soon to be featured at Lama Library. In addition to these collaborative conversations, both artists will showcase independent work focused on the ability of light to shape and explore our inner and outer landscapes.
The exhibition opens Thursday, June 12th at the Lama Library at Kapi’olani Community College, in partnership with Koa Art Gallery with a reception from 3:30 – 5:45 p.m. The exhibition runs through July 16th. Admission is free and open to the public.
“My work is an attempt to capture the essence of light and how it informs both our metaphysical and literal existence,” said Hornak. “The exhibition’s title, The Light We See, The Light We Are reminds me of an ancient Egyptian greeting that translates to, ‘You bring light into my life;’ with the response ‘Your light is enough.’ With this in mind, I hope the images illuminate the ways we are interconnected and the commonalities of our human experience.
Portraits of people from around the globe countered by images of artificial mannequins hint at the ways in which photography can explore the relationship between inner essence and the fabricated world of the ego. Hornak ponders, “Do the images of mannequins evoke an emotional response similar to that of the portraits of people? Are those feelings any less real?”
Beste’s work deepens the conversation by scrutinizing the tension between nature and artifice. “I use light to examine how constructs of nature and the artificial are interrelated, ambiguous, and mediated by culture,” comments Beste. “Hawaii provides a perfect example, where expectations of an organic paradise collide with an often-manufactured landscape.”
“By exploring the boundaries between the built and natural world using light effects on the ocean horizon, “ explains Beste. “Light from cities, vessels, and beacons become powerful metaphors for the ways in which we interact, manage, and attempt to control the environment.”
“In an exploration of opposites: light and shadow, natural and artificial, infinite and finite, isolation and inclusion, we begin to uncover a deeper understanding of ourselves,” adds Hornak. “By acknowledging the space between these polarities we elevate our awareness — we begin to see the light that we are.”
Alison Beste is a photographer and educator based in Honolulu, HI. She received a BA in Art from the College of William and Mary and is an MFA candidate at the Art Institute of Boston. For the past nine years, she has taught photography and design classes at Assets School with her students winning numerous awards and exhibiting in the community. Beste is also a faculty member for University of Hawaii’s Outreach College Pacific New Media. Her portfolio can be viewed at www.alisonbeste.com.
Lisa Hornak is an independent photographer and educator currently based in Rome, Italy. She received a BA in English with a concentration in photojournalism from Boston University. Her photos have won numerous prizes, including first place honors for the New England Associated Press News Association and the Boston Press Photographers Association. Hornak’s photographs have appeared in USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Le Figaro, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Cambodia Daily, and many other publications. Hornak teaches photography for National Geographic and has led their student expedition programs to Costa Rica, Tanzania, Maine, Alaska, India, and Cambodia. Her portfolio can be viewed at www.lisahornak.com.