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Kim Duffett - Bronze Sculpture
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Originally from Ohio, Kim Duffett was born to an artist mother and a scientist father. These two inclinations have followed Duffett his entire life and have colored all his explorations into the creative process. His brother Marc, an accomplished painter, was also a great influence but Kim found his bent at age six when he began sculpting in wood. Working in three dimensions has been his path ever since.
Duffett went on to study sculpture and painting at the secondary schools he attended on the East Coast and first started drawing and sculpting the human figure at Barlow School of the Arts. One summer, while working in a small, private foundry in Ohio, he was initiated into the art of casting in bronze. Soon after graduating high school, Kim found work in his father's specialty, horticulture. The job, fortunately, was on a plantation located in Kenya, East Africa that gave him the opportunity to study with local African wood carvers.
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During the next four years he traveled and studied in North Africa, Italy, and other European countries where he gained respect and awe for the power and influence of art and artists in daily life. In so many of the towns and villages he visited, art was everywhere. Every public square had its sculpture, every street its fresco or bas-relief. He began to grasp how art in these cultures is in the air one breathes, a living legacy from the hands and inspiration of generations.
On his return to the U.S., Duffett lived, worked and sculpted in California and Washington State before moving to Hawai'i in 1979. Inspired by the "Aina", the land of Hawai'i, and its ancient and modern cultures, Kim continued to work primarily in wood. A three year sailing voyage in the South Pacific (1982-85), brought him in contact with carvers in Fiji, Vanuatu, The Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea, artistic traditions that continue to inspire him to this day.
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Once back in Hawai'i, he started sculpting in bronze through the foundry at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and exhibited his work in galleries and juried exhibitions.
Work in construction supported his family and his art but the decision to dedicate his full time to sculpture with a focus on commissions came in 1991. Painting an 8' x 150' construction wall mural introduced his work to "The Courtyards at Punahou" condominium in Honolulu, for whom he subsequently created the 13' x 8' figurative bronze and cast stone fountain entitled "Punahou" ("New Spring") fronting the porta cochere. Other commissions and private work followed. His exterior installation of bronzes at the Hilton Hawaii's Village Ali'i Courtyard began his work with the Hilton in 1990. In 1997 he completed a commission for the Hilton's Tapa Tower entrance with the bronze fountains of 'Iolani Luahine and Alfred Apaka.
Duffett broadened his choice of media to include stone, illuminated cast resin and ceramics. In 2000 he created a 10' x 28' ceramic bas-relief mural for the State Foundation for Culture and the Arts, the DOE, and He'eia Elementary School entitled, "The Land Remembers", a journey through the history of He'eia and Kaneohe Valley. His recent efforts include the three twice life size hula kahiko dancers fronting the Hilton Hawaiian Village entitled, Kaha ka Io me na Makani for which he received the Kahili Award for Visual Arts at the 2003 Keep it Hawaii Awards. Other commissions have followed and he is presently working on a new work for Royal School through the SFCA and DOE entitled, Across the Generations.
From June through August of 2003 a major body of Duffetts work featuring the premiere of his series of bronze miniatures of Kaha ka Io me na Makani was showcased at Ku Makani Gallery at the Hilton in Waikiki. Kim Duffett's work is in private collections in Italy, Canada, Holland, Australia, Hong Kong, Hawai'i, and the mainland US. His work can also be viewed at the Waikiki Tabora Gallery and Cedar Street Galleries, both fine arts galleries in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
On his return to the U.S., Duffett lived, worked and sculpted in California and Washington State before moving to Hawai'i in 1979. Inspired by the "Aina", the land of Hawai'i, and its ancient and modern cultures, Kim continued to work primarily in wood. A three year sailing voyage in the South Pacific (1982-85), brought him in contact with carvers in Fiji, Vanuatu, The Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea, artistic traditions that continue to inspire him to this day. Once back in Hawai'i, he started sculpting in bronze through the foundry at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and exhibited his work in galleries and juried exhibitions.
Work in construction supported his family and his art but the decision to dedicate his full time to sculpture with a focus on commissions came in 1991. Painting an 8' x 150' construction wall mural introduced his work to "The Courtyards at Punahou" condominium in Honolulu, for whom he subsequently created the 13' x 8' figurative bronze and cast stone fountain entitled "Punahou" ("New Spring") fronting the porta cochere. Other commissions and private work followed. His exterior installation of bronzes at the Hilton Hawaii's Village Ali'i Courtyard began his work with the Hilton in 1990. In 1997 he completed a commission for the Hilton's Tapa Tower entrance with the bronze fountains of 'Iolani Luahine and Alfred Apaka.
Duffett broadened his choice of media to include stone, illuminated cast resin and ceramics. In 2000 he created a 10' x 28' ceramic bas-relief mural for the State Foundation for Culture and the Arts, the DOE, and He'eia Elementary School entitled, "The Land Remembers", a journey through the history of He'eia and Kaneohe Valley. His recent efforts include the three twice life size hula kahiko dancers fronting the Hilton Hawaiian Village entitled, Kaha ka Io me na Makani for which he received the Kahili Award for Visual Arts at the 2003 Keep it Hawaii Awards. Other commissions have followed and he is presently working on a new work for Royal School through the SFCA and DOE entitled, Across the Generations.
From June through August of 2003 a major body of Duffetts work featuring the premiere of his series of bronze miniatures of Kaha ka Io me na Makani was showcased at Ku Makani Gallery at the Hilton in Waikiki. Kim Duffett's work is in private collections in Italy, Canada, Holland, Australia, Hong Kong, Hawai'i, and the mainland US. His work can also be viewed at the Waikiki Tabora Gallery and Cedar Street Galleries, both fine arts galleries in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
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Prices and availability subject to change without notification.
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