News
Keck Observatory Showcases Local Artist’s Work
KAMUELA, HI—Laurie Goldstein, a resident of North Kohala, will present a mixed media art show, entitled “Universe in Color” at the W. M. Keck Observatory headquarters, located at 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, in Waimea. The exhibit runs from May 20 to September 22.
Public viewing of Goldstein’s art will be available during Keck Observatory’s monthly astronomy lectures. “It is a pleasure to be able to showcase Laurie’s work for friends of Keck astronomy. Our conference room is traditionally at maximum capacity for our lectures and serves as a unique, alternative gallery for our community,” said Observatory Director Dr. Taft Armandroff. The next astronomy lecture will be held Thursday, June 10 at 7:00 p.m.
Goldstein created her first work of art at age five. With a cardboard tracing of her foot, some ribbon and blue and gold paint, she crafted a pair of Grecian sandals. “I have no idea where I’d seen something like that or how I figured out how to make them,” she said, “but the joy of making art has been with me ever since.”
After her school days, Goldstein began her formal art career as a printmaker, focusing primarily on monotype prints. She then gradually began adding thin papers and fabrics to her pieces, which have evolved from prints to print collages and finally to collage on canvas.
“In my current work, the background is usually an acrylic painted canvas. I mix paints to get the colors I want and then paint papers for tearing or cutting. This way I can get exactly the color, texture and shape I want for the pieces,” Goldstein said.
Her latest work features canvas with papers, fabrics and ephemera glued to the surface. Goldstein explained that she sometimes paints over the collage material to give the surface texture, creating shapes that help dictate the outcome of the piece. In other works, she has used the glued materials as the final layer, which leaves the textures and colors of the collaged pieces completely visible.
“It’s always fun to see how the final piece differs from what I may have had in my mind when starting it,” she said.
Goldstein’s works are featured in several museums and corporate and private collections including: the National Art Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London, England, the Library of the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City and the Library of the National Museum of American Art, in Washington, D.C. as well as Bristol-Myers Squibb headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey and Johnson & Johnson headquarters, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
The W. M. Keck Observatory operates two 10-meter optical/infrared telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawai’i and is a scientific partnership of the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and NASA. The Observatory’s headquarters in Waimea has a visitors’ center open to the public Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, please call 808.881.3827 or visit http://www.keckobservatory.org.
