My name is Gary Eoff, and I've lived in Kona Hawai'i since 1980. I work as an artist and craftsman, inspired by our rich Hawaiian culture and traditions. I exhibit extensively with The Polynesian Voyaging Society, focusing on provisioning the canoe for blue water voyaging and demonstrating the close connection between cultural practices and protecting our natural resources.
My love of Hawaiian traditions, especially those of the Hawaiian voyaging canoes, is also reflected in the themes of my woodblock prints, monoprints and other work.
I love the aesthetics of the Hawaiians. I moved to Hawaii nearly forty years ago, and almost immediately became fascinated with the islands' ancient fishing tackle. Over the years, my interests broadened to encompass all of Hawaiian culture, and I studied under traditional craftsmen such as Angel Pilago and Willy McGlothin for twenty years. It is still an ongoing process of discovery and learning for me many years later. I not only make the traditional items themselves, but find, cultivate, harvest and process the materials from which they are made.
By rediscovering the traditional practices and skills of our ancestors, we protect the land and ocean resources for our future
I'm fascinated by the skills and insight of the Polynesian and Hawaiian cultures, and have spent decades learning the traditional ways of making many of their cultural objects. Most are objects that were made for utilitarian purposes, but beyond just function, they also hold great beauty in their simple, but elegant forms.
Because I care about sharing the knowledge and skills that have been passed on to me, I dedicate a significant part of my time to educational purposes, including curating and exhibiting in shows in museums and art centers, as well as hosting seminars, and working with groups of young people out in nature in parks and public land.
The woodblock prints I make are inspired by the rich culture and traditions of Hawaii and Polynesian voyagers, and are done with both traditional Japanese and western techniques.
Archival giclee prints of these woodblock designs are offered via the website, as well as at select Big Island art galleries.
All images © Gary Eoff 2017, except as noted
Site design by Glyph Art Studio
Educational materials by Gary Eoff are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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