Nestled amongst the hustle and bustle of Urban Honolulu, the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA) stands as a serene, cherished oasis—a deliberate contrast to the vibrant energy of busy Beretania Street. Beyond its tranquil courtyards and airy galleries, the museum is preparing to host a profoundly significant exhibition, Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within.
Marking its final destination on a two-year national tour, this retrospective celebrates the life and monumental work of the late 20th-century Hawaiʻi-born artist, Toshiko Takaezu. Beginning February 14 and running until July 26, 2026, the exhibition showcases the celebrated artist’s ceramics—for which she is most renowned—alongside her textiles, paintings, and other media.
This engagement is no mere stop on a tour; it is a true homecoming. Takaezu’s journey as an artist began here in the islands. Born in Pepeʻekeo on Hawaiʻi Island, she spent her formative years across Hawaiʻi Island and Maui, growing up as one of eleven children to Shinsa and Kama Takaezu. Her parents arrived in Hawaii in the early 1900s from Gushikawa, Okinawa, taking on the demanding work of farm laborers in the sugar plantations.
In the 1940s, Takaezu moved to Honolulu, starting her professional life at the Hawaii Potter’s Guild. She would go on to study at the Honolulu Academy of Arts (now HoMA) and the University of Hawaiʻi under ceramics master Claude Horan. This “homecoming” exhibition, which originally debuted at the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum in New York City in 2024, is described as a full-circle moment—a deeply intimate encounter with an artist whose roots and earliest inspirations were shaped by the very soil, culture, and beauty of the Hawaiian Islands. She held her first solo museum exhibition at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1959, and her return now to the institution that nurtured her is a powerful commemoration.
Takaezu’s career eventually took her to the continental US, where she taught at institutions like the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Princeton University before settling in Quakertown, New Jersey, to create her home and studio. Yet, the influence of her upbringing is indelible in her work, particularly in her signature “closed form” ceramic sculptures. These pieces—ranging from palm-sized to immersive, completely sealed save for a tiny pinhole—often include internal “rattles,” adding a hidden, playful element of sound to the static art form.
To further deepen the connection, Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within also features works commissioned by HoMA from contemporary Hawaiʻi ceramics artist Dane Hiʻipoi Nakama. Inspired by Takaezu’s closed forms, Nakama’s pieces invite visitors to engage directly by holding and gently shaking them, experiencing the distinct sounds each vessel creates. HoMA has scheduled a calendar of programs to accompany this monumental homecoming. For more information, visit honolulumuseum.org.
