Wildfiber season

Tucked in a tiny room in the Ewa end of the Honolulu Museum of Art is a colony of felt pods with long snouts. Chicago artist Joan Livingstone’s eight epoxy resin forms hang on a wall as part of "Loomless: Contemporary Fiberworks from the Museum’s Collection."

"They feel very organic," curatorial assistant Katherine Love said of Livingstone’s "Breathing Lessons." "They’re some kind of creature but you don’t really know what."

Love said the exhibit, which consists of 23 pieces, illustrates that fiber works can be more than utilitarian. In fact, fiber art has expanded from purely traditional uses of materials and forms — like bowls — to more of a sculptural form.

"I think (fiber artists) are doing a couple of different things," Love said. "Choosing different materials that are not necessarily fiber and looking at forms in new ways."

"Sonus," an abstract piece by Chicago artist Barbara Cooper made from strips of cherry wood veneer, "might remind you of something traditional like a cornucopia or a shell, but when you take a closer look it’s not easy to pin down what it is," Love said.

"Contemporary artists are concerned with more concepts, whether they be social or political or even just the idea of looking at the world in new unique ways, as opposed to just how something is made."

"Loomless" includes traditional works made contemporary because of the materials used. Swedish-American artist Michele Pred uses cellphone chargers to create her bowl-shaped piece, "Nesting," for instance, while San Francisco artist Gyongy Laky’s contemporary bowl-like form, "Desert Edge," is made from eucalyptus storm debris, deck screws and paint.

There are also more traditional woven bowls that are aesthetically pleasing to look at, but "Loomless" goes beyond that, Love said.

Much of the works "require the viewer to think about it more."