Amber Khan

Pau Hana on the Grass

A residency completed in collaboration with Kainoa Gruspe at The Wireworks Project in Belper, England in July 2023.

The title reflects their relationship to their home, where they are now, and what the near future brings. In ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (native Hawaiian language), “pau hana” translates to “finished with work”, signifying the end of their four-year stay in the UK.  “...on the grass” provides a nod to their experiences utilizing the Shining Cliff Woods as a prevalent resource both technically and conceptually in their time there. 

The exhibition delves into various themes, including ecology, structures within society, cultural production, symbolic and linguistic interpretation, and the word "exotic”. Ideas in this show are eloquently described In Edward O. Wilsonʻs Biophilia. He writes, “The noble savage, a biological impossibility, never existed. Human relation to nature is vastly more subtle and ambivalent probably for this reason. Over thousands of generations, the mind evolved with a ripening culture, creating itself out of symbols and tools and genetic advantage accrued from planned modifications of the environment. The unique operations of the brain are the result of natural selection operating through the filter of culture. They have suspended us between the two antipodal ideas of nature and machine, forest and city, the natural and artificial, relentlessly seeking- in the words of the geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, an equilibrium not of this world.” 

Kainoaʻs work includes a series of Y shaped branches gathered from the woods around the Wireworks. This natural occurrence, where branches and leaves diverge from the main stem, prompts the question "Y?" and offers two possible paths.  Two large Ys standing on either side of the space are adorned with various materials including a map etched into lead, woven lauhala suspended in coconut rope, and multicolored joints to stabilize the cracks. These perhaps provide a clue about who is asking the question, or, to where these paths lead.

Amberʻs work includes three sculptures, ManGo, Torched Ginger, and Prismed Papaya, fashioned from three large tree trunks collected just outside the Wireworks vicinity. The process of making the works included the heavy use of a chainsaw. Amber deliberately chose these fruits to illustrate her investigations into the word ʻexoticʻ. As a label generally for things that are not of the norm, this word is charged with ethnic connotations and ideas surrounding the “other.” Her work is an exploration and critique on assumptions surrounding who holds the power to decide what is foreign and what is familiar. Additionally, while her time and space there placed her in juxtaposition with the forest, Amber couldnʻt help but feel the presence and influence of the people around her. She found Tony and Ivanʻs relationship and their shared use of reading glasses most intriguing. She found this connection is woven into the fabric of the Wireworks walls, it’s part of the culture they perpetuate within the space. Prismed Papaya is a reflection of Amber’s interactions and observations of that relationship. 

The stream that runs through the gallery space and the vice for crushing passion fruit are collaborative works. A nearby stream is redirected to run in and out of the gallery space, and fruit is crushed in an industrial vice and left to spoil and attract fruit flies. The crushed fruit juice along with the running water is meant to elicit a sensory experience, bringing the forest into the gallery and paralleling the forest in Hawaii.

ManGo
Found log in Shining Cliff Woods, rope, hook, dirt
2023

Torched Ginger
found tree trunk, PlayDoh, turmeric, paint, rocks
2023
This work is a good example of taking a blind leap of faith and truly crashing and burning. This was probably the most frustrating piece I think I’ve ever made. It was genuinely the most laborious and, conceptually most convoluted piece I think I’ve ever made. Never at one point in the process of making this piece was I happy with my thoughts and feelings surrounding it and how it was beginning to take form. Even adding color to this piece felt uncomfortable. Despite all of this, I learned a lot about the chainsaw, it became my companion. I also realized, I need to learn when to stop, cause sometimes LEs$ iS m0r€. Thanks to Ivan and Tony for allowing me the space to experiment

Exotic Mud
Mud sifted from shining cliff woods, assorted fruit, wood trough, two weeks time….exercise for fruit thoughts
2023

Prismed Papaya
found tree trunk, PlayDoh, passion fruit, yarn, coconut rope
2023

Passion, Juiced
amber x kainoa
branch, vice, passion fruit, wood tray
passion fruit was squashed by visitors and left throughout the duration of the exhibition to attract fruit flies and let off sweet and then sour smells