Works in Taiji Terasaki’s show include “Food Security-Fantastical Forms.”

KAHULUI — The Maui Arts & Cultural Center will present “Taiji Terasaki: RESET/RESHAPE,” an exhibition in the Schaefer International Gallery from Sept. 22 to Dec. 18, 2021.

Terasaki is a Japanese American artist based in Honolulu making his Schaefer Gallery debut with this exhibit. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Conceived against the backdrop of the tumultuous and historic, social and cultural events of 2020, “RESET/RESHAPE” presents a series of artistic proposals for rethinking the cyclic nature of societal systems and patterns.

The exhibition presents a constellation of intertwined themes ranging from societal and racial inequality, climate change, combating food insecurity and scientific and technological innovation in art and society.

Presenting via a wide array of media, including augmented reality (AR), ceramics, film, installations and works on paper, the exhibition presents an immersive and emotionally charged experience that focuses on hope, disruption and collective wisdom.

The exhibition, created by Terasaki and his studio team, will transform the gallery into a visual narrative that documents the artist’s pandemic journey, capturing the highly charged emotions of 2020, while inspiring hope for the future.

According to Schaefer Gallery Director Neida Bangerter, “Our recent re-opening of the gallery gives us focus towards our fall season of programming with an ambitious multi-part exhibition by leading Honolulu-based artist Taiji Terasaki. His works emphatically resonate at a human level and share the challenges and collective spirit we have been facing on a global scale. He brings us honesty and optimism with a multimedia infusion of contemporary history and resilience.”

A highlight of the Schaefer Gallery exhibit includes the 2020 work “Transcendients: 100 Days of Covid-19,” which was recently exhibited at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. A large-scale weaving project created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it features everyday heroes who rose up to help others during the pandemic, healthcare workers who risked their lives, and it includes the late George Floyd, whose death inspired global protests over racial injustice.

Also of note are Terasaki’s unique interactive works, including “Disrupt The Pattern,” orthographic projection on live mist, that capture a subtle and poetically ephemeral technique that is performative and fleeting.

On this ambitious undertaking, Terasaki commented, “This exhibition serves as a collective journey as we emerge from the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, with more awareness of our daily thoughts and actions and their subsequent consequences.

“As such, this exhibition aims to transform tragedy to reflect upon the resilience of individuals and communities from all walks of life, from the Hawaiian Islands, the Continental U.S. and beyond, who have undergone physical and mental upheavals, brought on by the pandemic and its associated health and economic issues. I am deeply grateful to these individuals who have shared their testimonies with me and inspired me to create the works in ‘RESET/RESHAPE.’ “