Art teacher’s works gain local recognition

By Reggie Cantù

B. Chrisse Harwanko’s most popular artwork may be her best-selling series of kimono paintings, but her more recent abstracts have proven edifying for both the artist and admirers of her work. They showcase through April 3 at the prestigious Okiten Juried Art Show.

            “I like the mystery and the magic that happens with abstracts,” asserts the Bob Hope Elementary School art teacher. She’s clearly not alone.

            To be chosen for Okiten, a venerable institution in the Okinawan art world, is to undergo scrutiny by a panel of acknowledged masters in each medium represented in the annual event held since 1946. Many apply, but few are chosen.

            Those selected are honored with an award called “Nyu-sen” merely for making it in. It announces that the work is “worthy of exhibition.”

            The show, which kicked off March 19, is in the Urasoe Sports Complex adjacent to the Urasoe Art Museum, and features artistic excellence in painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, glassware, graphic design and photography.

            Standing out in the dazzling array of large, mostly abstract paintings is Harwanko’s work entitled “Where the Earth Meets the Sea.”

            Even among the finely accomplished pieces, Harwanko’s work seems more crafted, sure and adept. The organic forms, textures, flow of shapes, and minuteness of detail demand attention and close scrutiny. To examine it is to be entranced, almost hypnotized – there is so much to see.

            Harwanko includes elements of different media in her work, happily engaged in mixing techniques of batik, the application of latex and acrylics then using icy coldness and scorching heat to bring out hidden aspects in them.

            She will cover certain areas of her canvases with wax, apply pigment and then freeze the piece. Taken out, the wax is broken and veins of color will appear. She allows the random lines to reveal shapes and forms, which she enhances.

            Portions of the painting will be covered in heavy coats of acrylic. The textures are achieved by heating the paint to raise bubbles and hillocks, creating unique landscapes that become part of the overall work.

            She is swallowed by the process, she says. “I get totally lost in it, the shapes, forms and colors, so peaceful. It’s meditative – I’m on another planet.”

            After 21 years in the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DODDS) system Harwanko looks forward to retiring in a few more years to life in Panama, a country she has fallen in love with and where she owns a home. She says she will continue pursuing her adventures in abstract art there.

            For now, the k through third-grade students at Bob Hope Elementary are lucky to have her as their art teacher. And they are another passion for her along with her art work, love of diving, and traveling.

            “They are so much fun,” Harwanko says. “They remind you of the soul and depths of a human being. You can get them excited about just anything. Kids who don’t do so well in other areas can do well in art. It boosts their self-esteem. I am so happy for military and civilian children here that DODDS can still support art. So many schools cannot.”