The Honolulu Academy of Arts has brought its artist-in-residence program back to life after a 36-year hiatus. The program took flight again Sept. 18, funded by the Arthur and May Orvis Foundation.

The first artist selected to occupy Gallery 31 is working with sculptures of Mylar, air and helium.

Allison Uttley, a University of Hawai'i-Manoa master of fine arts degree candidate, was chosen from among nine other applicants. Visitors can see her prints and watch her helium-lifted body of work evolve over a six-week residency in Gallery 31, during weekend museum hours.

Uttley, born in 1979 and raised in Rhode Island, graduated cum laude from Mount Holyoke College with degrees in studio art and Spanish. She is named after an Elvis Costello song and not related to or named after famous British writer Alison Uttley — although she owns and has read all her books.

I interviewed Uttley at town restaurant in Kaimuki, where her exhibit, "Romanesque to Retro" with glass artist Daniel Wooddell, closes today.

Q. Why are memories such an important part of your artwork?

A. As an undergraduate, I wanted to figure out what I wanted to make and why. My color palette always harkened back to the 1970s, it's so nostalgic and romanticized. When my father passed away, it made me go into those memories even more, to try to navigate through my childhood, everything that happened — my parents' divorce. I wanted to recreate the memories in a way, but I wanted the darker events to inform how I recreated them. I did a mural piece with a screen print I made from a photograph of my parents' wedding. Shadows engulf and then drown the figures in darkness.

Q. Why did you decide to work with Mylar?

A. I don't know if it's "why Mylar?" as much as "why floating things?" I was working from old family photographs — mine, others' and found — on a print series titled "Yosemite." The larger, darker forms in those intaglio prints (with screen and monoprints on top) began to represent psychological storms, interacting with the characters or figures. I wanted to make those forms three-dimensional, floating around in space — maybe obstructing your view of the piece, feeling like a weight, or weightless around the space. I tried to make a 6-foot structure out of silk material and fill it up with latex balloons, but it was too heavy to lift off. Then I saw Andy Warhol's "Silver Clouds" sculpture in Pittsburgh — big silver rectangle Mylar balloons filled with helium. Fans were placed in the corners and the balloons floated up and down when you walked through them. It blew my mind when I saw that, even though I was there to see his prints. I wanted to take it further — to make my own balloon structures in whatever shape I needed them to be in.

Q. How was your first weekend in Gallery 31?

A. My first weekend at the academy was very encouraging. I felt a strong sense of collaboration between academy staff and the museum visitors. The Mylar balloon sculptures are working out well, and I've been experimenting with other floating forms, such as a large (8- by 4-foot) structure made of nylon. I'm very excited to see how my project ideas will develop.

Q. Will the helium last?

A. I did a test. It's still floating and it's been a week. I want some to hover in a middle ground, so I'm thinking of playing with the helium/air ratio in the balloons. It's all going to hit the floor at some point. The deflated ones are pretty nice looking too. Mylar is so seductive. I'm working with red, white, gold and green.

Q. What made you leave the East Coast for UH-Manoa?

A. My fiance, Todd, was in Hawai'i getting his Ph.D. in geophysics. I'd wanted to get my graduate degree and thought it was a perfect opportunity. I applied but didn't get into the program the first year. So I started as an unclassified graduate and took some classes. Then I reapplied and got accepted. Afterwards, I got the Watumull grant in museum studies and ended up being the coordinator for the "International Shoebox Exhibition." It was a lot of fun and a ton of work.

Q. How do you feel about graduating and going into the art world with the economy the way it is?

A. First, I have my degree to finish and my thesis show at the UH Commons Gallery in April. I feel confident that I can be an artist now, even though it's hard to say "I'm an artist."

Presently, I'm shadowing professor Charlie Cohan in his screen-printing class. Next semester, I'll be teaching my own screen-printing class at UH, and want to pursue that path as well as research panoramas. I have very positive feelings about graduating and entering the art world. I think that if anything, the shaky state of the economy will be a catalyst for the creative arts movement. Ask me this question again in a year and I'll let you know how positive I'm still feeling!