Hawaiian artist Moses created more than 250 hats from paper bags contributed by merchants in his neighborhood. Made in a project room of the local library during the 1980s, the hats are imaginative, amusing and timeless sculpture. They run the gamut from traditional — top hat, Civil War cap and the ‘50s-style _Anthurium,_ to fantastic — the ornately folded and pleated _Gothic Knight_ and a series of caps crowned with seemingly suspended bamboo forms. Occasionally, Moses loaded hats into his Chevy van for a trip to Hapuna Beach where he persuaded passersby to model them for photographs taken with a borrowed camera. Some of those photographs are on view, and a sheaf of his Xeroxed photographs serves as a working catalogue of the collection.
Fashioned from the most ordinary material, these hats are whimsical, yet sophisticated; subtle, yet exuberant; delightful to behold and a pleasure to contemplate.
The exhibition was accompanied by the DVD, _Moses Makes a Hat,_ an interview and demonstration filmed at the Members’ Opening reception, February 17, 2007.
Paper bag hat-making programs were presented on May 12, July 14 and November 10.