Local Artist Creating Pieces For Lei Day in Hawaii

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Jeffrey Starr, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Orchids

Local Artist Susan Champeny is making it big a long way from home. She is currently receiving grants to build her own singular brand of sculptures made out of recycled materials, and looking for more. The talented creator is in Hawaii working on artwork for the Lei Day Festival to be displayed in front of the East Hawaii Cultural Center throughout the month of May. The Lei Day celebrations take place at Kalakua Park in Hilo, Hawaii on May 1st.

Specifically for this uniquely Hawaiian holiday, designed to preserve, perpetuate, celebrate and share the many types of traditional Hawaiian lei, she is building a giant lei, at least 40-50 feet long, made of recycled plastics. She describes the creation process so far.

"I spent this week creating flowers for the lei. I made Orchids from purple laundry bottles, and bent large plastic lids into a hanging Heliconia. The yellow lids from Bustelo Coffee work great! I expect the lei will be 1-pound per foot, but plastic can be dense, so I will mix in lighter material, such as white styrofoam trays flowers," says Susan.

"My new obsession is Dryer Vent Hose, the silver stuff that looks like a slinky. It is the perfect under-structure for the Giant Lei. I will need about 10 of them. I found one at the Keaau Transfer Station for a dollar. I hope I can find more there, as they run about $10-15 each new at Home Depot."

The giant lei isn't all. For those generous enough to give a certain amount to help fund her important artwork, she is making a few smaller pieces of art out of genuine, Hawaii-gleaned plastic as gifts. These include a styrofoam bottle holder (for a grant of $25 or more), a pair of orchids made out of a laundry detergent bottle (for a grant of $50 or more), and a lei made out of soft lids (for a grant of $100 or more).

"Your fuel grants allow me to buy gas and food, both more expensive than at home. Recycled materials are often free, but getting to the recycling centers can mount up cost-wise. I am so grateful that you are willing to support my artwork – it helps keep the inventing and creating going," Champeny says.

Though the budget for the whole festival is $5,000, funding has only reached $86 so far, but another $2,000 has been promised. The East Hawaii Cultural Center has agreed to become the festival's lead fiscal sponsor.
In addition, two indiegogo sites (http://igg.me/p/363279/x/2644015 and http://igg.me/p/362055/x/2644015) have been set up to fund possible musicians and a hula performance as part of the Lei Day festivities.

"It is SUCH a pleasure to work with such a focused, proactive group," says the local artist.

For more information on the artwork of Susan Champeny, including these pieces in particular, please visit her website. For more information on Lei Day please visit their website or find them on Facebook.