Karina Gonzalez
Artist Barbara Lai Bennett, 59, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the influence of her birthplace is evident in much of her work.
Currently exhibiting works at the Pierce College Art Gallery’s “OFF-PLANET” exhibition, Bennett has painted several pieces that explored her view of the cosmos with an eye from Hawaii.
Her piece, “Hokulani Heavenly Star,” illustrates the compass that early travelers from Polynesian islands used to migrate to Hawaii.
She used her own idea of Hawaiian symbols in place of the traditional European constellations.
Bennett moved to California in 1964 to study art at the University of California at Redlands and eventually graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a degree in art history.
She married and had two sons and stayed in California, where her artwork became her primary focus.
Ballet dancing has also figured largely into Bennett’s work. She has studied ballet for 16 years, and several of her fellow dancers have worked on NASA space projects at Jet Propulsion Labratory
Early on, Bennet read the newspaper to see the names of her friends and as she read, she became educated in the discoveries being made and began to use her art to represent her feelings on the discoveries.
“Sometimes just a caption will set me off,” said Bennett, describing the inspiration for her space-influenced artwork.
Playing with unique tools to complete her collages has also been an artistic interest, with her paint pallet often used as pieces of color in those collages.
“A lot of this is experimentation,” said Art Gallery Director Mary Oliver.
Bennett recently became interested in the manipulations that computers can offer and has begun using images of her own work altered and then used again in parts of her collages.
She has also used different ballet images manipulated by copy machine, such as tulle copied onto vellum to flush out “Giselle,” a full-size re-imagining of a ballet dancer’s ensemble.
“She makes good use of the media available,” noted Oliver.
Using so many different tools has kept Bennett constantly looking for a new way to express her artistic feelings.
“I won’t do it if it isn’t fun,” Bennett said.
Bennett is also exhibiting works at the Brand Library Art Galleries in Glendale.