Geo-Location Goes From Application to Art: Romanchak's "Tracked" Exhibits in Honolulu

Oct. 7, 2010 - PRLog -- The location-based boom continues, as evidenced by the rapid adoption of Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, and most recently Facebook Places.  GPS technology makes it easier than ever before to trace our urban trajectories and rural retreats.   Now, geo-location moves from application to art.  Hawaii print artist Abigail Lee Kahilikia Romanchak conveys our fascination with man’s whereabouts in her innovative, award-winning installation, “Tracked”, currently on display through January 9, 2011 at Honolulu’s The Contemporary Museum.

As one of just seven artists invited to participate in the museum’s Ninth Biennial of Hawai’i Artists, the 33-year old Romanchak has gained notice for her printmaking style - a blend of modern, contemporary design with Hawaiian iconography.  For “Tracked,” she found inspiration in a friend’s GPS mapping project that recorded the movements of a conservationist team and its tracking dogs in the pristine Waikamoi watershed of east Maui over the course of a year.  Romanchak re-interpreted these digital demarcations in literal and abstract form, selecting 1-inch by 1-inch sections of the maps and scaling them to 3-foot square images.  From these images, Romanchak created carved relief woodblocks that were hand-printed on to Japanese Sekishu paper.

The work’s theme – exploring the blurred boundaries between man, technology, and nature – is furthered in Romanchak’s medium.  Layered atop the etching ink are iron oxide and powdered earth from the Waikamoi watershed itself.  The result is a powerfully graphic yet elusively abstract display made up of twenty 36” by 36” prints, forming an entire installation of 12 by 30 feet.  

Of “Tracked,” Romanchak notes, “I was attracted by the capacity of technology to follow man wherever he goes, even into remote wilderness, and our efforts and interest in defining and controling these paths.”

For “Tracked,” Romanchak is this year’s recipient of the Ellen Choy Craig award, given by The Contemporary Museum to an outstanding Hawaii artist.   “Tracked” can be viewed at Honolulu’s The Contemporary Museum, now through January 9, 2011.  Individual prints from the installation may be purchased by contacting Abigail Romanchak directly at abigailromanchak@yahoo.com.

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About Abigail Romanchak: Maui, Hawaii print artist Abigail Lee Kahilikia Romanchak uses her art as a means of empowering and asserting a Hawaiian sense of identity and traditional culture via contemporary design. Her work may be found in private collections worldwide, including the Australian National Gallery, Hawaii’s State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Four Seasons Resort Maui, Mauna Kea Hotel, Ritz Carlton Kapalua, and more. For more information, please contact (808) 306-1838, visit www.abigailromanchak.com, or email abigailromanchak@yahoo.com.