I am a fiber artist working on mainly two different series.
One series is an installation of ropes that represent my desire for the world to feel more connected. This series came to life in the powerless feeling I had just observing the rise of hate crimes over the past few years.
I use an ancient and universal object, rope, as the symbol of connection. Braiding two opposing forces creates the strength of a rope. The fabrics used are clothes and linens of our time, donated from friends from many places. The ropes showcase the complexity of connections by intersecting, tying, passing-through, wrapping around, tangling and dangling.
I didn't know until recently that my grandmother's birth family in Japan owned a rope/twine manufacturer. One day my mother remarked that it's interesting that I'm making ropes 'like I'm supposed to' - life imitates art again.
Some ropes have aluminum wire inside to control their lines and shapes. Thicker ropes are filled with acrylic/cotton fillings to promote stuffed- animal-like softness and lightweight installations that are safe for a kid-friendly environment.
The other series is fabric collage presented on canvases or murals. Hundreds of squares reminiscent of digital pixels compose an aggregate like a living organism, together representing the harmony and the history of our time. They focus on the beauty and complexity of multiculturalism and the history of our ancestors' journey and survival.
The site-specific installation titled, This Life Given was a 360-degree mural created for Governors Island during a summer 2019 public art program. Centering around my 3-year-old daughter, the mural portrays a time travel to her ancestry from Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.
For both ropes and collage series, I'm trying to work with used materials like old clothes and linens, to keep my art practice less wasteful and more environmentally responsible for the natural habitat and our children's future. These installations are disassembled after each exhibition. The same ropes are reused over and over, mutating into new forms.
My mission is to evoke conversations to learn about each other and find personal ways to be more connected to avoid hate crime tragedies caused by the fear of the unknown.