LOS ANGELES, CA.- Huang's recent feather work, made expressly for this exhibition, are on display at the Craft in America Center.

In Hawaiian culture there is a long tradition of feather garments made to protect and distinguish royalty, and more commonly known, feather leis are used to symbolize welcoming and compassion.

Boris Huang settled in Hawaii when he landed a good job after his education there. Taking interest in the local culture, he took a workshop on Hawaiian featherwork and became so enamored with the craft that he asked to apprentice with Hawaiian Feather Lei Master, Aunty Mary Louise Kekuewa. Over the five years of working with her, he mastered the laborious technique of individually tying single feathers to a net base to create leis, capes and other adornments.

The feathers Huang uses for his work are sustainably sourced from molting and other harmless means of gathering. Feathers from different parts of the bird have different qualities and these subtle variations become the basis for symbolic and aesthetic decisions.

Being from Taiwan, Huang’s work is set apart by his skillful blending of Eastern and Western featherwork traditions and aesthetics. Before passing away, his mentor gave him the encouraging words, “You’re not in the box; keep doing your amazing work.”

“What makes my feather artwork different from others is the skill passing and culture crossing between two different ethnicities. Thereʼs love, encouragement and home for a stranger like me to settle in, and thereʼs respect for [the Hawaiian] land and culture.” --Boris Huang