Interview with Avi Kiriati



MJ: Avi Kiriati, thank you for joining us today.

AK: Hi. Aloha.



MJ: This is where you live, right?

AK: Yeah.



MJ: And you also have a studio right here. 

AK: Right.



MJ: What a great spot for a studio.

AK: Yeah



MJ: How does it inspire your work?

AK: Totally, you know, just, I let it all soak in, and then I put it all

out, and I just try to be as clear as I can, as a medium, you know, and let

it just groove.



MJ: How important is the environment for your creating your work?

AK: It's always an inside, outside experience, you know, that is happening

simultaneously, and so it's very important. It's like if  you're in a big

church, you feel very little. It's that kind of an effect, you know, and

the same about the environment, you know. It's pristine, and you feel very

peaceful and , you know, close to it, being a part of it.



MJ: Do you feel small next to the ocean?

AK: Yeah, very small.

MJ: How did you make your way to the islands. I mean, you grew up in

another country, and moved to the States. Tell us about all that.

AK: I grew up in Israel, and I had to go through the army, because

everybody has, you know, as a kid you don't know so much, and when I was

there, I really was dreaming about being somewhere else, like on a small

island in the middle of the Pacific. That was my dream, and I made it.



MJ: And then you lived in the US for a while?

AK: Yeah. I lived in New Hampshire for a while. We lived in a small log

cabin up in New Hampshire. My daughter was born over there on the first day

of spring, 17 years ago, and it was a really nice experience.



MJ: I mean, Israel, New Hampshire, and Maui are like far apart. How did

your art change as you were in different locations like that?

AK: Well, you know, like, in New Hampshire, I used go and pick up old fungi

that grew on dead wood, and I would cut them and bake them and shellac

them, and paint like a scene of like pheasants and hunters or a covered

bridge. You know, you just do what's there, you know. And when you're in

Hawaii, for me I just do like Polynesian art, you know.



MJ: Your father was also an artist. How did that influence you? What other

influences have you had in your life?

AK: Well, I've got influences from artists that I like, for instance, that

I chose to focus my energy in studying them. I can name you a few, like Van

Gogh, Picasso, Paul Gaugin, Matisse, you can see definitely the influence

in my work from these people, and I'm kinda carrying on where they stopped.

And then I've got influence from what's around me. And I combine that with

that.

MJ: What kind of work did your father do?

AK: My father did oil painting, sculpting he's done some metal sculptures,

wood sculpture and some stone sculpture, and prints. That's where I learned

how to print, from my dad.



MJ: When did you begin your work in art? How old were you?

AK: Probably very young, you know. Just like sitting in the studio over

there, scratching on a piece of paper, you know, or doing a portrait of one

of my aunties, you know. My mom still has it. I think I was two, or... 

really young. I started really young.



MJ: And then for awhile you were in a number of different things, like

farming. What does farming... How does farming teach you about art?

AK: Farming teaches you about art, because it's like a garden. With art,

you have to nurture it: give it energy, you know - good food, water, and

you can see it growing in front of your eyes every day. The same is with

art. It's like, you got to nurture it just like a garden. You got to get

yourself into it, work it, with love. And then it will grow, like a flower.



MJ: Tell us about the different kinds of art you're involved in. It's not

just, for instance, oil painting. Tell us about that.

AK: I... Well, my nature is that I get bored really fast with anything. So

I always try to keep myself... I need excitement, so I... my studio is like

my laboratory, and I experiment all the time. And I do have like few things

that I...  consistently work them out. And one of them is the oil

paintings. And I've got like a couple of styles that I do. And sculpting,

that's another one, and of course, printing, which I do different things

within that. One of them is textile designs.  I utilize printing for that.

And I've created a few lines of clothing. One for Kahala sportswear, one

for Crazy Shirts, and then we just started another, new, women's line on

the mainland. And they're all doing very well. And they support my fine

art. It's really somehow worked out like that, and I'm really happy about

it. 



MJ: How about some other forms that you're working on right now in your

studio?

AK: Well, I guess when we go up in the studio, maybe I could show you more

particularly as I'm working with it. You could visualize it better.



MJ: You have one form of art, that probably most of our viewers aren't

familiar with, called lava art. What is that?

AK: Lava art... it's lava art. It's something that few people have done,

and each in his own way. You need lava for that, and so you have to go to

the place where the lava comes out of the earth, in this case, on the big

island, in Hawaii on the Kileau volcano, and to get to the lava to need to

hike and you need to know the environment, and really be there, because

it's very dangerous, and I don't recommend it to anybody. And I personally

almost died doing it. That's what made me stop it. But I usually would

create plaster molds, and then I would take them up to the lava field, and

I would with the help of some helpers, shovel hot lava, molten lava, and

cast it right there into the plaster molds, and see it harden right  in

front of my eyes, and  form a lava sculpture out of it. It's interesting,

it was on public TV, you could have seen it.  



MJ: You stopped doing that, though.

AK: Yeah, I stopped doing that because I had recognized that I should stop

doing it to pay my respect to just the the local energies in the place

where it was.



MJ: What do you mean by that?

AK: I personally almost experienced death, so, you know, I mean, I

stretched the limit to the outmost, so if you've been told then in that way

not to do it, so then you got to stop doing it, and start something else.

And I did focus my art more on other forms, like printing for instance, but

I have channeled what I've learned from that, you know,  and utilized it,

and it was good.



MJ: I've heard that you've been studying Polynesian culture recently.  Tell

us about that, and what you've learned about it.

AK: Yes, my wife and I have been studying Polynesian culture, and also the

kids, since they had no choice, coming along with us, for years now

already. And we do study different subjects which are of interest. I'm

mostly interested in the arts. And I have brought back from Marquesas, from

our last trip, a group of contemporary Tiki's, quality Tiki's from each

village in the six populated islands in the Marquesas,  I made up my mind

to do something that has a substantial meaning, you know, Polynesian art,

for instance, and our research is not what you would say is scientific

research, it's just of what we collect and study with the people when we

are there. And we are just very interested and curious about it, and that's

where it started from, you know.



MJ: Has it affected your art?

AK: Of course. My art always, since I've been on the island, has been

Polynesian art, depicting mostly the Polynesian people in everyday life,

you know, the farmers and fishermen. And since that was the nature of it,

you know, I've always felt if I will go to the South Pacific and I'd study

it by being there in the different islands, that influence would rub off on

me, and of course it did, I mean, because you just see what is when you are

there and you know it. So it's a certain kind of, I don't know if authority

is the right word, but I do carry on with my research. Although sometimes

it is obstructed, but I try to follow through to the authenticity of the

way of life over there.



MJ: Do you consider yourself after all these years here... Do you consider

yourself a Hawaiian?

AK: Well, you know, it's funny, because I've gotten like some thank-you

notes from Hawaiian people, you know, mostly Hawaiian people who live in

the mainland. And they kind of write to me, "Oh, we accepted you as one of

us, and da da DA DA DA" but, well, you know,  I did come from another

country, and I feel more so of the men of, really, the world, you know.

It's 1996 you know, although we still live in the Dark Ages, but there is a

lot of light coming through, you know, CNN and all this stuff, you know,

it's in your house. But as a Hawaiian, you know, I eat the local food, and

I try to... I go fishing, I go diving. I do things that they do, but I'm

not Hawaiian, you know, but I'm kind of like, I'm here, you know, so I'm

kind of like an Israeli-American-Hawaiian, if you can term it in that way,

but as far as like Hawaiian blood, there's no really flow in my veins, but

I feel very close to these people you know. You got a lot of  Hawaiians and

part Hawaiians, and anybody, you know. I don't want to single out any

particular group, really. That's not my make-up.



MJ: Do you ever sense any resentment from the local people, like, "This guy

came into town, and thinks he's, you know, he's drawing, or painting our

work?"



AK: Sure, in 17 years of living here have I come across that. I came across

that in Israel, I came across that in America, you know, it's everywhere,

you know, it's like, it's, you know, it's part of living in the world right

now. You know, we have different problems, like ice, for instance, in here,

it's some heavy drugs, that are really changing the consciousness of

society right now, especially our kids. They are getting very quickly into

it, and it's something that once you get into it, it's very hard. And so,

our programs, our social programs are coming from a whole other aspect of

life that is not really in the lineage, necessarily, of a certain person,

you know. So the world's now, it's different things, you know. We got to

work with everything, you know.



MJ: What are your plans for the future in terms of  your work, and just

your life here? Any goals?

AK: I just want to live a simple life. You know, I want, you know, I want

to travel in the world, I want to enjoy my life, you know. But, you know, I

just kind of... My daughter goes Seabury school. She needs to finish that,

and my son, he's standing on his own, you know, I got to follow my kids, my

family, my wife, you know. I don't know if it'll be different tomorrow, you

know, or five minutes from now, you know.



MJ: You were talking about technology. What do you think the future, with

all this technology that's coming in, there's the Internet and all this

stuff... How is that going to change, or will it change art, and the way

art is created?

AK: Oh it all ready has changed art, somewhat. You know, art is evolving

constantly to many directions, and the main thing is to work positively

with whatever it is that we are working with. If it is technology, if

mankind can utilize it, you know, towards helping the environment, it's

great. It's possible.



MJ: As an artist, is that a positive or a negative?

AL: It's both, you know. Life is like that you know. It's just... You get

both sides of the dish, kind of like. You just got to choose where you want

to be. It's a personal quest for each one of us, you know.



MJ: You know, I was reading some of the materials about you, and there was

talk in there about you having a lot of Picasso influences on your work.

What do you think about that?

AK: Yeah, it's probably the way --- I can not, you know, lie to myself.

Whatever comes out of me, I never know what I'm going to be doing, OK? And

I'm not trying to force it, and so it does come out, and I do see it in

there. You know, Picasso was really strong.  You know in art, you know,

you're an artist, and you're influenced, you know, from anything, really.

And that's what happened to me, you know. I didn't plan on doing that,

really, but it's probably there. It's definitely there, and, but, you know

I... It come out, whatever comes out is definitely Avi. There's no doubt

about it. And that's what's so nice about it because it is very

recognizable if you look at it from far away,  and know who did it. And

that's important today in the art world, you know. So, I guess, you know,

the influence of Picasso helped me to achieve that one, and so if I did,

it's great.



MJ: Do you spend time studying, when you were younger, the great masters,

and so on or not?

AK: No, I didn't, and as a matter of fact, my dad sent me to his teacher,

and this guy, Giladi, an old guy, and remember walking to the place, and I

got in there, and he put in front of me a kerosene lamp, and he gave me

some charcoal, and he asked me to draw it. And I remember that I drew two

monkeys hanging from their tails from a branch, and he came over after

about 20 minutes, and he looked at it, he just crumpled it, and he said...

And I was so happy when I was going home. It's like, he kicked me out, and

I didn't do it, so I'm kind of like self taught, and I'm really, you know,

what I picked up along the way, my might have been in a couple museums, or

mostly books, you know, that I've looked into. But it's nothing, really,

too major, you know, other than that.



MJ: Do you think that kind of training, let's say music or art, stifled

creativity?

AK: It's up to the individual and his own...willing to go to a certain

direction that you choose kind of in the moment, you know, so you're more

in the flow, and you're just growing as you grow in the moment. And to me,

that's how it worked out, and so I cannot speak for anybody else, you know,

about, you know, that subject if it hurts you or not, your artistic merit,

yourself, what you got from within you, It's hard to tell, you know.



MJ: You know, a lot of great artists of the past, many of them weren't able

to make a real living while they were alive, and after they passed on,

their work got a lot of money and acclaim. But you're making a living at

this. How has that changed, and how do you think that changing so much has

affected the art itself?

AK: Well, first of all, I got to thank my wife for that, because if I was

here by myself, I would probably give all my work away. And then, my wife

and I, we swore that we were not going to be starving artists, which we

were for a few years, you know, no doubt, you know. But we swore that we

were going to break out of that, and use the art actually, to make a lot of

money and, who knows, you know, maybe do something with it.



MJ: Well you also, you were talking earlier about social causes and I mean,

it seems like it's more than just making money.

AK: Absolutely, you know. It's like if you work with the energy and the

energy's working with you, it's a cycle. So you've always got to share, you

know, and it's like, that's the nature of anything, is like, you want to be

promoted, you've got to promote.



MJ: Do you ever see a danger of being too commercial, or is that a fear you

have?

AK: Yeah. I do.



MJ: How do you balance those interests?

AK: Well, I'm still learning about it, you know. To tell you the truth,

there's every day something you will want to learn about. And I just have

to find my balance and I do have my daily balance that I live with, but my

balance with commercialism is I know it's going to work itself out because

of just life. And so, I'm curious to see what will happen, because I don't

know yet, you know, so we'll see.



MJ: How do you spend an average day, if there is an average day.

AK: Yeah, lately there has been, but every day is definitely different. I

wake up at like a quarter to six, really, and my daughter wakes up, and I

drive her off to school. It's a great drive, and I spend the time with my

daughter. I love that, and she likes that. And I come back, I go to

Anthony's tofu shop in Paia and get my "mokaim" and then I come back to the

studio and I start  working. And then I have to pick up my daughter at

around 3:00, and when I come back, we usually go swimming, and I work, you

know... At night time too, I work, you know, I kind of like, work a lot,

sometimes, you know. But I usually work really hard, and then I take a

vacation and I play really hard for like three months or so



MJ: Do you take your work with you?

AK: No, last time I just was doing sketches, you know, and so it's a

vacation, you know. But you got to keep it, you know, you got to... Art is

not like a bike. You know, a bicycle, once you learn it, you never forget.

With art, you got to have a continuous thought.  It's a line. If you

disrupt it, you got to start again, you know, it's kind of like you step

back, like a little bit then. The more you do it, the more you get into it,

the more you're within it... I'm not saying you get obsessed with it,

that's wrong, but you got to put a lot of energy into it, and continuously.

Sometimes I'm afraid to stop. It's not like a drug, though, you know, it's

like, you got to keep working because if you don't, it's going to affect

you. You know, like every time I go on vacation and I come back again I go

through a lot of turmoil in terms of getting back into the groove, you

know. It's really a lot of misery, getting back into the groove after all

that vacation, you know, for sure you got to pay the price.



MJ: Can you take us through, like the process of getting an idea for a work

and it's completion?

AK: I have no idea about that, you know. I have stopped figuring what I'm

doing because I cannot... I just let it happen. I walk out of the studio...

I make a print, and leave to take a break and come back, "Oh, that's what

I'm doing." I completely forget about it, too. You know what I mean? It's

like really amazing and then when I come back I'm fresh, and, "Oh, I can do

that," you know. Then I see it in a different light, too. So I never any

more try to figure out what I'm going to be doing. I just go and I do it.

And I've had enough of that, I look around, "OK, I'm doing that."



MJ: Do you ever have works that you start, and then you say, "Ahh..." and

you don't finish them?

AK: Oh yeah. I've twice... each time I've thrown about like 50 oils,

probably 100 oils into the dumpsters. And it's funny, because people went

in and got a lot of the paintings out, and a lot of them were signed, so

I've learned my lesson, you know, but actually that was years ago.

MJ: People got them and sold them.

AK: No, they didn't sell them. They had it hanging in their house.

Actually, one guy told me that he turned one of the pictures and painted on

the other side, so people do different things with them. And... But that

was like years ago, and anything that I do now, it's pretty much very

little, you know, that is not good, you know, so I don't throw stuff any

more at all, you know. But I had, you know, thrown a lot of stuff,

definitely. Ones that I wasn't happy with and I wanted out of my life. I

wanted to move on to the next level.



MJ: What do you think makes one person an artist, and the other person not?

Is it something... What is that?

AK: Well, let's say that all children are artists. And then they get it

kicked out of them, pretty much. And it's definitely a challenge to

maintain that, living in this world. And I guess that's what people

appreciate, you know, the ability of one to stick with it, and just be it.

An artist is a man, and a man is an artist, or a woman, or a child, or an

animal.



MJ: So the ones who are artists today are the ones who didn't let it get

kicked out of them when they were kids?

AK: I cannot answer for anybody. But for myself, I always knew that I

was... I'm an artist, and I'm going to be an artist, always. I used to hike

and always was thinking about it. I don't know if it's like in your makeup,

you know, or it's something that you just decide in your life to grow into

it. In time, you know.



MJ: What does Maui mean to you?

AK: Maui is a great island. I like it because there is combinations of many

things here that are very easily available to you. There isn't really any

minorities or majorities around here, you know, which I like a lot, you 

know. Nobody is this or that. So you can be yourself really easily around

here. A lot of people... they let you be yourself, and they are themselves,

and everybody's having a good time, you know? Pretty much.

MJ: Thanks for joining us. 

AK: Yeah. Aloha. Thank you very much.