Some adventurous Honolulu ceramists have set the tables at Mark’s Garage with dinnerware you may not have seen the likes of before. HPR’s Noe Tanigawa found well-made new ways to serve your next meal.
“Dinner Party” continues at Mark’s Garage through October 1st.
Artist Mariko Merritt is one of the ten ceramists showing in the Dinner Party exhibition at Marks’ Garage. She watched the show’s instigator, Daven Hee, as he made some imaginative mini pourers—perfect for shoyu.
"He throws these tiny little pieces and he’s so fast throwing these tiny little components. They’re all laid out in front of him and he’ll score and stick and score and stick and all of a sudden it’s a little teapot or something just forms before your eyes."They’re a lot like the whimsical vehicles and toys DavenHee fans so appreciate.
Also showing, Jon Vongvichai who runs the ceramics program at the Honolulu Museum School. His black and white, tailored porcelain plate sets should be an inspiration for chefs.
"And if you feel the rims, they’re super smooth, and even the bottoms are really polished. He just sits there with the wheel spinning and his glazed pieces, and he has a sanding pad. He sits there for probably hours, just sanding down to a really fine grit. You touch the rim of those things and you just want to feel it!" says Merrittt.
With your lips. Hee and Vongvichai are consummate technicians, they make what they do look easy, and their fluidity shows in the pieces. They and Ashley Huang are among the core group of ceramists who show annually at
Marks. Huang responded to the Dinner Party theme more abstractly with a riotous scene, one many who have dogs at home have imagined. Huang’s dogs are tearing up a Chinese banquet table!
Hawai‘i’s fabulous food scene deserves appropriate serving ware. What shape, for example, is the perfect poke bowl?
