Photo Credit: Reiko Fujii
Thirsty Ghosts
4ft Length x 10ft Height x 3ft Width
Altered heirloom chair, paint, treated bottles, led lights, fabric, sand
Thirsty Ghosts explores the concept of hungry ghosts, found in many Asian cultures, and which are typically characterized as lost or unhappy spirits that haunt the living. Applying this concept to a contemporary context, Thirsty Ghosts serves to pair imagery with a feeling of drowning in a substance desired, which continuously runs empty and dry. In this sense, addiction as a metaphor for the insatiable, hungry ghosts that take hold of living beings. The purpose of this piece is not to make a statement about alcoholism, but rather to call out a hungry ghost, which affects a multitude of individuals and their families. In naming it with a visual representation, the intention is to purge and let go of it.
Photo Credit: Reiko Fujii
Aligning Elevation
9ft Length x 16ft Height x 3ft Width
Altered heirloom chairs, fabricated ladders & stilts, paint
Aligning Elevation explores the symbolism of a chair for a person in this is sculptural installation that involved the transformation of personal family furniture. These four chairs are elevated through wooden stilts attached to their legs and have ladders extending from their backs. The parallel backs of these chairs combine to form a lattice of ladders, interlinked to support a roof structure. This installation speaks to notions of home, emotional wellbeing and strength of family as well as community. The installation was partially inspired by traditional Thai houses, which are raised on stilts to protect them from seasonal flooding.
Photo Credits: (left to right) Manon Bogerd Wada, Cris Matos, Thomas Schumake
Flux Migration
28in Length x 80in Height x 24in Width
Altered heirloom chair, found doors, mirror, table, wood, paint
Drawing upon personal and family history, Flux Migration strives to illustrate both isolation and transformation as it occurs with immigration and relocation. The chair in this piece is a family heirloom, cut in half vertically, inverted and reconfigured side by side. As a singular object, it is intended to portray isolation. Upon viewing the objects’ reflection in the mirrored sides, the dissected chair halves combine to create two full chairs, and further a multitude of chairs, expressing transformation. The two doors with mirrors providing two viewing directions reflect a divergence of one’s pathway, infinitely and indefinitely.
