(日本語は、こちら)
Life is fleeting; therefore, life is beautiful. This expression is based on one of the values in Japanese aesthetics: impermanence. The fragile and transitory qualities of impermanence are considered of exceptional beauty. This idea describes the central theme of my work: ephemeral human life and its beauty.
My installations have focused on life experience derived from my personal experiences. For each exhibition, I select a single word that encompasses an experience I am dealing with at that time. I use this keyword to develop my ideas conceptually and visually.
I use technology to amplify the experience of my work by using sound and light. Technological aspects are not a significant part of the audience’s encounter even though they are often my interest in making the work. Rather than solely a visual interaction, I am able to control the viewer’s experience at the level of multiple senses, triggering the viewer’s memory. I believe that light, sound, and smell are passageways to memory.
My conceptual and aesthetic concerns are inspired by specific sites. By spending time in the allotted location, I envision activating the space. I transform my visualization from the space into my installation. The materials often dictate my idea. I incorporate small fragile objects such as branches, gold leaf, hand made paper, lights, tiny shards of metal, and electronic circuitry. These delicate elements are meant to touch a chord within the audience and suggest a moment of calm, delight, and refl ection. The harmony that exists between the small objects offers a sense of solemnity. All of my recent work has been suspended from the ceiling. The hanging structures give a sense of instability, which rightly describes my anxiety of the future. At the same time, the combination of fragility and floating objects is as fleeting as a web between branches, inferring ephemeral life like that of a mayfly. I want my audience to experience the work with such feelings.
Sound is essential to my work; I construct spaces with a combination of voice and created auditory effects. A blinking light, synchronized electrically with the harmonized sound, communicates with the viewer while casting a shadow of the structure. Composite modules of repeated sound, small objects, and shadow propagate my message. The viewer is stimulated by the psychological and physiological effect of my work on the senses.