Driven by my childhood fantasy, phobia, and desire, my artwork interacts with the ideas of time, memory, and floating between the real and imaginary. I use photography to weave my autobiographical narrative – From the mimicry of prepubescent flesh surrounded by soft pastel clothing, emotionally-charged landscapes with a solitary girl soldier standing, and darkly illuminated and saturated stereotyped
females; to bright and sparkly photo-sculptural mythical flowers. I also incorporate sculpture, sound, moving images, and installation to expand my narrative into more complex layers.

As a Japanese immigrant, my work is continually floating/shifting between states: East and West, longing and hope, memories and oblivion, and past and future. I am interested in archiving things that could be forgotten or become obsolete over time – otherwise I will forget where I came from. The awareness of the impermanence of things, or “Mono-No-Aware” in Japanese, has turned into an obsession and obligation to preserve the past as knowledge for the future. The idea of photography works very well to freeze and package the floating moments to archive them.

Although my obsession is rooted in a very personal narrative, I believe that the most personal is the most universal. In this way, I evoke emotional reactions from my viewers.

I have been working on a photographic sculpture series for several years, using bright-colored motifs of historical kimonos and American pop-culture elements. Assembled patterns are inspired by ancient Japanese mythical flowers that people adored and dreamed of seeing on the “other” side of the world. My work can take various forms and sizes, including immersive photo collage, sculpture, installation, graphic design, mural photography, digital display, textiles, and more. I’m very excited to discuss the possibility of creating a truly one-of-a-kind artwork for you.