The Hana Coast Gallery
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Ron Kent. Thin oil-soaked, uplifted vessels turned from Norfolk pine are immediately recognized as his and his alone (though imitators appeared). No one else has his minimalist/classical sense of form. The wood itself is an important part of the content. Norfolk pine is ubiquitous in the Pacific; legend has it that Captain Cooke saw to it that this very straight tree was planted everywhere to provide masts for sailing ships. Kent, like the sage wood pioneer Wharton Esherick, seems to believe that all the wood you need can be found in your own backyard. Norfolk pine local (in Hawaii where Kent lives), renewable, and for the asking. Ron Kent has an eye for spalting and, since he lives in the tropics, he now deep-freezes roughly turned pieces to halt the configurations where he wants them to stay. But translucency is Kent's miraculous innovation. Properly lit, his bowls glow. He can control the light by the thickness and the thinness of the walls so that the turned bowl shapes light. I have seen one piece that only glows near the base. Others glow as if radioactive. The shadow of one's hand can be seen through the wood.
- Arizona State University Art Museum |
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Vessel #BM
 Post Nuclear Series Lathe-turned from Norfolk Island Pine 9" high by 11" in diameter. Made from quarter-section of log, endowing vertical growth-ring pattern and knot slashes. Translucent. $4,850 ....Already Purchased This is a form has been slowly been evolving into a series. Ron continues to be facinated by the process of cutting/burning/stitching using copper braid to create what he calls "a bridge between craft and fine art sculpture" |
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"Vessel #BN"
 click on photos above for larger view Lathe-turned from Norfolk Island Pine 4" high by 13-1/2" in diameter. $2,200 | Vessel #169B
 Lathe-turned from Norfolk Island Pine 6" high by 9" in diameter. $2,300 |
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Typically, one out of every four bowls will shatter on the lathe,
usually just as he is finishing and refining its beauty. But Kent
doesn't really mind, because when one does come off the lathe intact
it is an ultra-thin masterpiece. The results tend to be snapped up by
eager collectors throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.
Mr. Kent's bowl forms are also featured in the permenant collections of world-renowned museums - including the Louvre
in Paris, the Vatican Museum in
Rome, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Smithsonian
Institute's Renwick and Cooper-Hewitt
galleries in Washington, D.C., and the American Crafts Museum. His
bowls have been accepted into the
highly prestigious Art In The Embasies Program of the State
department, and one of his special transluscent
turnings sits just outside the Presidential living quarters as one
of two of his pieces in the White House
Collection. |
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