Post #197844 by Humuhumu on Sun, Nov 13, 2005 4:29 PM

Here's the thing: if you look through Meyers' Oceanic Art, you see an amazing variety in the pieces. When the artists in the last century turned to this influence to create their own versions, they took those varied influences, and found their own personal style with it. Look at the designs in the Book of Tiki -- there are so many directions that those carvers went with it. Basement Kahuna is encouraging you all to go back to these classics, soak them up, and find your own style, inspired by the influence of these classics.

Personally, what I see a lot of, is folks taking a basic style (usually something that looks suspiciously Wayne Coombs-ish) and then adding their own touches by adding elements from other, non-Polynesian aspects -- vague tropical elements, imagery from other subcultures, etc. -- rather than finding their own fundamental tiki shapes and styles.

What I think BK is trying to do here, and I wholeheartedly agree with the effort, is to push folks to use their creative muscles a bit more, and also to study the classics. When an artist goes to art school, they are taught the classics, not to recreate them, but to learn from how they structured their pieces, where their influences came from, and how to create their own wonderful pieces by drawing on that influence.

The willingness to take time to create something is great; however the output is not always great, them's the breaks. I would say that there is a lot of room for improvement in the depth of influences being drawn upon by modern tiki artists, and it shows.