Student art shone in the spotlight in Crafting Voices, an exhibition at Kapiʻolani Community College’s Koa Gallery showcasing the creative talents of students across fine arts courses. The show featured a diverse array of work—drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, and two- and three-dimensional design.
“My self-portrait is inspired by natural distortion in the real world—from feelings that distort our perception or real objects, like glass that distorts our features,” said Sophia Villalobos, whose drawing explored emotion and perception.
Ceramics student Arthur Kastler shared Orpheus Planter, a piece rich with personal and artistic influences.
“This piece is inspired by works of Clara Holt, a ceramics artist in Italy, who makes a lot of classically inspired pieces with the sgraffito technique,” he said. “Though just beginning in ceramics, I have drawn all my life, which probably attracted me to sgraffito. The planter is also influenced by George Herriman, a great twentieth-century cartoonist and creator of Krazy Kat, a hero of mine.”
The exhibition, which was held from April 24 until May 8, offered many students their first opportunity to publicly share their work.
‘Valuable lifelong skills’
“Sharing student work in a public gallery gives students real-world experience,” said Kloe Kang, art instructor at Kapiʻolani CC. “It builds their confidence, allows them to communicate their ideas to a broader audience, and helps them see themselves as active contributors to the larger cultural and creative dialogue.”
Psychology and public health student Ava McIntyre pushed creative boundaries with a still life painting from an introductory oil painting course.
“It was intimidating at first, but I learned so much. I wanted to show the beauty in everyday objects,” she said. “I hope it encourages others to take artistic risks.”
Carl Jennings, a professor of arts and humanities, emphasized the exhibition’s broader value.
“These works represent first steps. Though most of our students are not art majors, we introduce all of them to the creative process,” Jennings said. “These are valuable lifelong skills that everyone can benefit from.”
—By Lisa Yamamoto
