Born Murray Odessky on October 16, 1931, the artist who would eventually change his name to “moses” moved to the Big Island of Hawaii and began to create 255 brilliant paper bag hats – sculptures that he donated to the Mingei Museum in San Diego, CA. Until he died in 2015, moses could be found daily at Starbucks in Kamuela, wearing one of his paper bag hats.
Murray Odessky’s (1931-2015) began making hats on a New Year’s Eve in 1979 when he brought some things to a party in a paper bag. When he went home, he emptied a size 12 bag and turned it over his head. It was a good fit, and he fashioned it into a hat.
Having moved to Hawaii and changed his name, moses turned to his love of hat making as a way to protect himself from the Hawaiian sun. His background as a a package and graphic designer for Mattel and other firms informed his work.
He worked daily and diligently, either from a “studio” at the public library in Waimea or with a borrowed camera on the beach, photographing willing participants who somehow served as the perfect characters to model each hat. He also visited schools all over the Big Island, teaching workshops to hundreds of children. He also hosted countless workshops for adults. Today, over 20 years since his first exhibition at Mingei, moses’ hats continue to radiated prodigious talent, perceptive humor, his love of humble materials – and unexpected beauty.
– Mingei museum
Via: @mingeimuseum Laura Reilly on Flickr, thresdfashionandcostume.
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