In Indonesia, it's the national craft.

I never learned how to do batik in my own country, but because there the work was mostly done, as in the villages as a cottage industry.

And so, it was mostly the village people that did it.

And the tik the word T-I-K comes from the Indonesian word titik, which means dot.

Because originally like in Indonesia, they judge the quality of batik by the amount of dots that's put on the material.

(instrumental music) The medium is batik, a process of selectively cutting fabric with hot wax, which creates images by resisting dyes from penetrating the material.

I learn to do batik when I first arrived in Hawaiʻi, at the Bishop Museum, but it took me about a year before I really developed my own style because first it was just the process.

The batik process begins by applying hot wax to a piece of 100-percent linen.

Yvonne has sketched her composition in with charcoal.

The wax is a mixture of about one-third of beeswax to two-thirds of paraffin, which is kept at a steady temperature of about 250 degrees in an old electric fryer.

She applies the wax in areas that she wants to keep white.

I work on larger canvases or larger areas because I like to have the freedom of the movement because there's so much happening.

First of all, I want the figure in there which in itself is a large object.

Then I want the textile, the fabric and I want to bring in the patterns.

And if you all do it in a smaller space, it just gets too complicated because on top of that, I also want the peace and restfulness in it.

(instrumental music) After the initial waxing is completed, Yvonne prepares her dyes, they are photosensitive and will turn color when exposed to sunlight.

Because she feels most comfortable drawing the female figure, Yvonne chooses to portray Hawaiian women.

I always like the massive physical appearance of the Hawaiian women; they have a certain presence.

And if you really look at them, despite the fact that they're big, they have an infinite grace to them, their movement, they don't look heavy in moving, you know, they sort of kind of glide.

And that's why I saw the beauty.

(instrumental music) Yvonne positions, detailed patterns in contradiction to massive figures as an integral element of her compositions.

If you have a composition and if you really take that composition apart, there's always one element that is quite contrary than the rest of the composition.

And it's almost to the point sometimes where it's quite imperfect, but because this imperfect piece, because of it being in the composition, that's what makes the whole composition perfect.

I think it's part of my philosophy of life.

In life you have, you need imperfect things to make the overall thing perfect to make life perfect, because otherwise you don't have anything to compare it with.

It's like you need to see white in order to realize what black is.

After the material has dried, Yvonne will reapply the wax, selecting the areas where she wants the first dye color to remain.

It may take a day to complete this step.

Then she will coat it again with another hue of color.

Each piece will receive eight to twelve coats of wax and dye.

The parts that never get wax, they will receive all the amount of dyes and therefore they're the darkest tone in the finished batik.

The lighter ones are the first dyes applied, so you work from light to dark.

The problem with batik is there's no way where you can erase it.

So once the process starts, you just have to keep on going.

Now, in my case, all the colors on the batik are related, which means that I keep applying the dye over the whole batik and where they overlap, they will change into another color.

So not only do I apply for example, blue as a second dye over the batik, but where the blue mixes with the beige of the first dye you will kind of get a grayish blue.

The dyeing process is finished.

Yvonne will iron the wax out of the material, and the image will soon be ready for framing.

What I liked about batik is there's always that element of surprise, no matter how much you control, try to control but there's always something that can go wrong.

And sometimes it goes wrong to your benefit.

It teaches you to kind of let go and let in quote fate take over to a certain point.

That is never really the total control of the human hand in there.

(instrumental music) As an artist Yvonne is exploring other media beyond batik.

(instrumental music) I seem to have all these split personalities in me and it's satisfying because I can, in different media, you can kind of gratify whatever impulses you have, I have.

And eventually, I don't know where this is all gonna lead.

I really like doing the other media.

And although right now people know me by Yvonne Cheng, the batik artist, eventually I would like people to say just just Yvonne Cheng the artist and leaving the batik as part of my art, but not the total art that I do.

(music) To many the world of fashion photography has a mystical appeal that prompts one to pause, perhaps to reflect upon the many personal possibilities of such an adventure, if only one were involved.

To those who are involved in capturing and framing images for the print media, the business of fashion photography is hard work, but not without reward.

Honolulu based photographer Ric Noyle is one of Hawaiʻi's best fashion photographers.

Well, I don't really have my own style as such that I've never really thought of my own style.

I think that if I had to go into that, I think that I try to adopt a style that would suit the client's needs.

Unlike, there are some photographers who do extremely well, who stick with their own style, they become known as that type of lighting expert or that type of photographer.

Whereas mine, I'm more of a generalist, and I always say to people, I'm a specialist, I specialize in making a dollar if you know what I mean?

I cannot do any one thing in Hawaiʻi, like a photographer in California in New York.

I cannot say I only shoot hands.

That photographer in New York who shoots pies, that never gets a chance to shoot a cake, because that's his style.

He does that one thing, whereas in Hawaiʻi, we cannot do that.

I shoot aerials, I shoot interiors, I do a tremendous amount of fashion.

I do a good share of product photography.

And the three things that I don't like to shoot is weddings, puppies, and babies.

And as long as I can stay away from those three, I can shoot practically anything else and we can put a light on it.

(instrumental music) Today we'll be shooting all the things that we can to give the illusion in the imagery of red.

Joining Ric on the creative team are Amos Kotomori.

Internationally famed makeup hairstylist and garment designer.

Also RSVP magazine art director, Fred Rainey and coworker Devon Guard, who is the magazine's fashion editor.

As a team for us with Amos Kotomori, who Amos is our stylist, he has the ability to make me look good, actually, they all make me look good, which is hella nice for me.

But Amos has got the ability to be able to put together the makeup, stylize the shot, and help me create a mood in the shot.

And I think that's probably the most important image result that one could wish for.

If you create a mood that other people looking at it can get a sense or feeling whatever the mood was meant to be.

That to me is like a total achievement to be able to have that happen.

Amos' styling and makeup are second to none.

Joining Ric on the creative team are Amos Kotomori.

Internationally famed makeup hairstylist and garment designer.

Also, RSVP magazine art director, Fred Rainey and coworker Devon Guard, who is the magazine's fashion editor.

I started doing this because I'm a textile designer by trade.

And I started off doing that.

Then I started doing my own fashion shows.

And along with that I started creating my own look that I wanted the mannequins or models to have which was makeup and hair.

And some people started noticing that there was a different look to my shows.

And I started doing that they started asking me if I would be willing to consider coming on shoots as their stylist, and I didn't quite understand what it meant.

And I've been doing it for a number of years now.

And I enjoy it, it sort of rounds out the designing feel for me.

(instrumental music) As Art Director, I am finally responsible for how everything comes out.

But working with a group of people, it's impossible to separate the contributions of one to another.

Ideas that come up, might originate with Devon or me or Ric, but then they're embroidered upon when we get together when we're at the photoshoot itself.

And now, my job is to keep it within the confines of the RSVP magazine's philosophy, look, and so on.

So, that means quality.

It means really interesting.

It means trendy, at least that's what we try to do.

And so sometimes if we, if it's looking say a little tame, you know, the lighting doesn't seem quite as exciting as it could be, I try to, you know, say, oh, let's, you know, dramatize it a little bit.

If it's becoming a little bit too out of sync with kind of a, a quality look, you know, we have to get it back in line with just keeping it as best as we can.

We're the only magazine in town that regularly produces fashion.

And so, each month, we try to come up with a new idea, a new look, always maintaining the best quality, and design and photography that we can.

(music) What do you think?

Amos, can you do that?

The same work has to be done, whether it is in New York or Honolulu.

The difference being that in New York, I would probably have five assistants.

And here, we all just kind of pull it together ourselves.

I'm responsible for getting all the pieces, but half the time Ric and Fred end up making props and bringing things from home and just making sure all pieces fit together for a really good quality photo shoot.

Being a model, especially a good one, I think if you want to try and be into that category, most important thing is to be able to be versatile enough to fit into any kind of an attitude that the photographer's asking of you.

And what that takes is for you to be able to let your own personality sideline it just for that one, you know, particular shot and be able to adapt to the situation, whatever it calls for and be comfortable with that.

Because if it's not you right then and there, that's okay, it's for a shot, and you can be yourself, the minute you walk off, that's it.

And you're okay with that.

(music) Hawaiʻi's market has always been known to be a little bit behind everybody else.

But in the last five years of my business operation here, I found that we have been able to close that gap of us being behind the market.

We're right in the middle of the Pacific with Japan out there and the Japanese are coming over here.

And now we also have a lot of people coming from New York City to California, coming to Hawaiʻi, and our models are holding their own.

It doesn't always happen that way.

Which is I think that for our industry very frustrating when they bring a couple of girls from, say LA, just to come and shoot a catalogue where they could have used a couple of the girls locally.

But fortunately, it's becoming less and less that that is happening.

And I'm hoping that that's going to be a trend that we see, we see that people on the mainland, acknowledging that there is a certain amount of talent in Hawaiʻi and that we don't walk around in short pants and go out with hula girls.

If we produce images that other people will look at and say hey, I'd like to advertise in that magazine, then ultimately, we're succeeding.

If we have fun on the way doing it, that's our benefit.

And that's really what it comes down to.

(instrumental music) The Honolulu Zoo can offer us comic relief if we turn our attention from our daily affairs to those of the animal kingdom.

(natural sound of animals at zoo) (instrumental music) Dr. Ricardo Trimillos is professor in ethnomusicology and head of the Ethnomusicology section of the music department at the University of Hawaiʻi in Honolulu.

In his quest for knowledge of the various ethnic musical influences of the Pacific basin, Dr. Trimillos has journeyed worldwide and is highly respected for his academic contributions, as well as his musical performance.

The music department the University of Hawaiʻi is the only state music department.

So that we have to serve as a number of different areas of music, including music education, composition, and then the more research-oriented areas such as music history, and music theory, as well as ethnomusicology.

So that ethnomusicology as an area in the music department is one of, I suppose you would consider five major areas.

The music department here at Hawaiʻi is known internationally for its ethnomusicology section, not only because of the research and the publications that we've put out, but also because we are in the Pacific area and part of a very large multicultural community.

Many other departments on the mainland use a kind of laboratory technique where they bring in people from other places.

We don't have to we can just walk out on the street and there they are.

(flute music) The uniqueness of the ethnomusicology program at Hawaiʻi has attracted a number of international students.

And one of them is Andrew Killick.

He is actually a concert pianist from England, who studied both in England and France.

Also became interested in the larger context of music, heard about the program here at Hawaiʻi and joined us just this last semester.

He is studying Japanese music and has concentrated on learning shakuhachi the end blown bamboo flute.

(instrumental music) This is a set of gongs from the southern Philippines, and the instrument is called kulintang.

The Southern Philippines is a Muslim area, unlike the rest of the Philippines, which is Christian.

And so, this ensemble is used for festivals to accompany wedding celebrations and also for dance.

The piece we're going to play is called ulan ulan which means a little rain and it's supposed to sound like rain on a roof.

(instrumental music) This is a Japanese koto, which is a 13-stringed zither and the music that is normally played comes from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

However, in modern times this instrument has also been used to come to as a medium for contemporary or avant garde composition, so that there are there's both a modern repertory for it, as well as the so-called Classical repertory.

(instrumental music) Ethnomusicology at the University of Hawaiʻi is in a very unique position for a number of reasons.

First of all, because we are ourselves in a multi ethnic community with a number of immigrant populations, who are looking for some kind of validation of their own cultural material.

And the university here through teaching all kinds of music does that.

In many universities and music schools, for instance, the only thing that you learned about is the Western classical tradition.

The Western classical tradition in Hawaiʻi is as foreign as Korean music for example.

So that, it has to be taught differently here and it was just one of a number of other musics which are interesting, creative and certainly part of our culture.

(instrumental music)