Recent Exhibitions

 
 
 

















The Work of
Sha Sha Higby
curated by Dieter Tremp
June 28-August 17, 2008
 “All is changing, passing through us, flowing inside of us, enduring, traveling somewhere: phenomena that we cannot stop sweeps continuously on, like a musical lace work, gathering and dispersing again endlessly as it goes, as water does in a stream.”
Sha Sha Higby

sculpture detail. Lacquer, plasma cutter sculpted metal, fiber, metal mesh
Sha Sha Higby is creativity unleashed! She makes elaborate, wildly imaginative costumes and is invited all over the world to do her haunting one-woman performances in these astonishing wearable sculptures.  Her work seems to move between some ancient royal treasure and a futuristic fantasy.
 
A long time Bolinas resident, Sha Sha is internationally known both as a performer and a teacher.  Her work calls upon her world travels and influences from years of studying techniques of copper work, classic Japanese lacquer, delicate Javanese leather cut work, elegant textiles and more. She has been the recipient of countless awards, scholarships, and national and international exhibitions. 
The Bolinas Museum is pleased to have the opportunity to present her work to the community in which she lives.
 
 
“The air around us is like so many planes in space, assorted canvases of images. On the surface of our skin there are multiple little theaters and stages.  One inch away from our body is already the sky under which the drama of a tiny world unfolds.  With these costumes and sculptures I want to show how we are embraced by the elegant complexity of the atmosphere about us.  Emotions and thoughts cluster on the surface of our bodies and then break away, fly and float off.  Each bundle of emotion becomes yet another entity in itself, splitting into many facets again and gathering and returning again to their source.”
Sha Sha Higby
                                      

                                   
 
 
 
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Higby in costume delights audience in Bolinas Museum courtyard
June 17 – August 24, 2008
In Javanese Moonlight: Sha Sha Higby in Transition
Sha Sha Higby approaches dance through the medium of sculpture. She creates intricate costumes of materials such as wood, silk, paper and gold leaf and animates them with subtlety and grace in performances of her own contemplative form of dance.
In Javanese Moonlight features three of the monumental, sculptural forms that Sha Sha Higby wears in performance. This exhibit situates Higby’s artwork within the context of Indonesian batik traditions. Like batik artists, whose work is deliberate and slow—not infrequently taking months or even years to produce one stunning length of cloth—Higby mines the spiritual meaning in the physical discipline required to devote up to two years developing a complex sculptural form. As stationary art objects and moving sculpture in Higby’s performances, these forms are an invitation to a meditative space, where time slows down and we find ourselves quietly contemplating life’s mysteries.
Higby’s contemporary mixed-media fiber sculptures are juxtaposed with rare royal Indonesian batiks from her own collection and the private collection of Noeleke Glenn Klavert. These batiks introduce visitors to the many cultural symbols that have shaped the iconic designs found in Indonesian batiks and have informed the artistic and spiritual practices behind Sha Sha Higby’s creations. Design influences in these batiks can be traced to India, China, Japan, the Middle East and Holland. 

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