Allyn Bromley: At the Edge of Forever

At the Edge of Forever features mixed-media print-based works created over the past eight years by artist Allyn Bromley (b. San Francisco, 1928). A resident of Hawai‘i since 1952, Bromley has influenced generations of artists through her exhibitions, mentorship, and teaching. She started the first printmaking class at Leeward Community College and transformed the printmaking department at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa where she taught for 17 years until retiring in 2000.  
 
The exhibition’s title evokes an eternal, boundless space, open to unlimited possibilities. Although Bromley has utilized the technique of screenprinting throughout her career, she has continually pushed beyond traditional printmaking methods. These recent large-scale works are testament to her ongoing experimentation with materials and investigate personal and global themes including memory, loss, migration, and the perilous state of the natural environment.   
Bromley’s current works are intricately assembled from hundreds of hand-printed paper elements (many were torn down or cut from her previous prints), as well as components such as plastic boxes, wire, wood, and cord. Working with recycled and found materials is a practical and aesthetic challenge that the artist enjoys, and the incorporation of these elements directly relates to issues of economy and environmental protection.   
 
Just as Bromley gives new life to used materials, she is also inspired to find fresh meaning in familiar subjects. “I like to see if I can take something as trite as a flower and turn it into a provocative, more universal, or larger idea,” she explains. At the age of 96, Bromley continues to produce relevant artwork as she pushes past boundaries to uncover what lies beyond the known edges.    
  
Support provided by  
The Judith Pyle and Wayne Pitluck Fund for Contemporary Art  

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Allyn Bromley (American, b. 1928). My Daughters' Garden, 2016 (detail). Screenprint on paper, cord. Collection of Lauran Bromley.