The Volcano Art Center invites you to attend Shaped by Fire, a fine art exhibition featuring the folk art metal smithing work of husband and wife team Lois and Ernest Rich. The exhibit will be on display from May 16 through July 5, 9AM-5PM daily at V olcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i V olcanoes National Park. While the exhibit is free, park entrance fees apply. The public is invited to meet the artists at the opening reception on Saturday, May 16 from 2-4.
For more than three decades, Lois and Ernest Rich have sustained a life in the fire arts, shaping steel through the enduring practices of forge, hammer, and anvil. Now based in East Hawai`i, their current body of work reflects a connection to the forests and ecosystems that surround their home and studio. Their sculptures translate the vitality of these environments into dynamic, three-dimensional forms. The exhibition features both freestanding works and sculptural wall pieces, each alive with movement, color, and intricate detail. Steel is their primary material embellished with luminous enamel surfaces that introduce vibrant color to an otherwise elemental medium. Organic forms—curling fronds, branching structures, and rhythmic, dance-like compositions—echo the growth patterns and energy of the natural world.
Working in close collaboration, the Richs’ approach each piece as a shared creative process, blending their individual histories into a unified artistic voice. Their lineage in traditional arts—rooted in North Carolina blacksmithing and pottery—continues to inform their practice, even as their work evolves in response to the unique environment of Hawai`i. The volcanic landscape, in particular, resonates with their material process: molten steel shaped by heat reflects the geological forces that formed the islands themselves.