Welcome to the "neighborhood."

Gallery ‘Iolani has been converted into a warmly lit, inviting space for its group exhibition, "Interior," on display through May 3.

Curator and artist Keiko Hatano has assembled a collection of "comfort zones," as interpreted by her fellow artists, that create what she fancifully calls a "subdivision" that makes for interesting juxtapositions of individual visions.

Hatano and gallery director Antoinette Martin, who also teaches gallery design at Windward Community College, initially planned for a more design-oriented show, "but we decided it’s not so exciting. So instead I asked the artists to design a living space — furnished and specially lit — within a designated area in the gallery.

"Depending on the artist, the concept of ‘interior’ can be internal or external," said Hatano, who also serves as curator at fishcake, the home furnishings/art gallery in Kakaako.

"For instance, Sally Lundburg’s ‘Signal Fire (In Times Like These)’ is more external and shows her fascination with a supernatural world that has a complicated connection between humans and nature."

Lundberg’s installation is next to Mark Chai’s and Kamaile Puaoi’s "Tree House," assembled with found, repurposed and recycled material and accessorized by Puaoi’s handmade art and prints that employ recyclables as well.

In keeping with his mission of sustainability, Chai worked with polypropylene plastic barrels, beam cut-offs pulled from a construction dumpster and branches from a friend’s pruning.

Hatano collaborated with Maura Fujihira and Deanna Itano on a suspended installation amid a kitchen interior that’s titled "Is This a Home?"

"The piece’s inception was inspired by the work of Belgian artist René Magritte and his use of imagery. Familiar shapes of objects found in a kitchen are cut out of paper and hung from thin sticks. While the pieces are made out of two-dimensional material, the entire installation suggests a three-dimensional interior space," she said.

An interesting contrast is Chusak Majarone’s "Hello Kitty Comfort Zone" that reworks the popular plush dolls into a refuge of quilts and chairs.

Mary Mitsuda’s "Studio / Cave," meanwhile, is a stylized and comparatively abstract commentary of an artist’s work space as interpreted by visitors from the future studying "ancient" artifacts.

"Interior" has turned out nothing like Hatano originally conceived, "but I’m happy with that, because all the artists made their own interpretations and took it further.

"Each of the artists is true to (himself or herself) and did a really good job," she said.