森羅万象 (Shinrabanshō)
A forest of countless forms; all things in nature understood as one continuous field.
My work examines fleeting phenomena in the natural world as expressions of time and the ways in which we perceive it. I am drawn to rain, clouds, moonlight, mist, and seasonal transition because their continual transformation makes visible the impermanence that underlies existence. Through sustained observation, I attend to distinctions within these phenomena and give them form across painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, and artist books. This process of observation and differentiation is central to my practice and to my interest in how perception is shaped.
The Japanese aesthetic concept of mono no aware, an awareness of the transience of things, informs my attention to impermanence and change. Seasonal language and historical nature-based calendars, including the seventy-two microseasons, offer systems through which subtle changes in the natural world have been observed and distinguished over time.
Materials extend this inquiry into physical experience. I work with aluminum, indigo, silver, and washi for their capacity to register light, atmosphere, and duration. As environmental conditions and the position of the viewer change, different qualities of the work become visible. The material experience of the work therefore unfolds through time and perception.
Language provides another means of differentiation. Bilingual titles draw upon historically attested seasonal vocabulary and naming traditions that encode distinctions of weather, season, and time. I am interested in how naming can direct attention toward conditions in the natural world that might otherwise pass unnoticed, and how these distinctions can be carried from language into visual and material form.