Crossing Borders

Sachi
Rice paper, sumi ink

Threshold
Ceramics, gauze, handprinted fabric, rice paper, acrylic ink

Threshold (detail)

Upcoming Exhibition

Crossing Borders

Group Exhibition, Curated by Pamela Ybañez

Artists include: 

Cat Chiu Phillips (San Diego)

Fonda Yoshimoto (Oakland)

Mitsuko Brooks (New York City)

Scott Tsuchitani (San Francisco)

Pamela Ybañez (Oakland)

Julie Thi Underhill (Berkeley)

Jave Gakumei Yoshimoto (Syracuse NY)

Julie Lee (Oakland)

Momoko Sudo (Oakland) 

Asians in America come upon many boundaries, some for a crossing and some remain untouched. The artists gathered here have taken position, crossing/touching various borders and giving us new ways to examine the political and/or the personal.

To this day Asians are still seen as the constant foreigner and at the same time as the model minority. Here, as artists and individuals residing in our communities, we have created a place to visually investigate ourselves or how we are perceived in generalities. It is a place where the political and personal intermingle. Some examine the borders surrounding the body while others pertain to cultural borders. At times addressing both simultaneously. 

May 12 to July 30, 2012

Artist's Reception: Wednesday May 16th 7-9 pm 

Free and open to the public at: 

The Oakland Asian Cultural Center  

388 Ninth Street (2nd floor of the Pacific Renaissance Plaza)

In Oakland's Chinatown

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!

Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center at one or more of these amazing events and workshops!

Link

Link
Cotton cord, rope, porcelain, cinderblocks 

Pull and Stretch

Pull
Porcelain, terracota, gauze, ink on paper 

Stretch
Porcelain, terracotta, gauze, fabric, ink on paper

Boulder, Cinderblock, Scar

Boulder, Cinderblock, Scar
Porcelain, cinderblock, ink, paper, charcoal

The Weight of it All

The Weight of it All
Charcoal, graphite

Striae

Striae

Terra cotta, paper, charcoal, ink, 8'x5'x7'

Marked

Marked
Terra cotta, gauze, rope, charcoal, surgical tape, ink, 8'x5'x7'

Fading. Grasping.

Fading. Grasping.
Porcelain, terra cotta, gauze, paint, chalk, cardboard, wire, corrugated plastic, lights, video projection, 10'x10'x15'

Vessel

Vessel
Chalk, house paint, 10'x15'

One More to Chase Away the Night

One More to Chase Away the Night

Porcelain tiles, found windows, stoneware, wood, lights, nightstand, modified nightlights, wires. 2009.

Touch, Scratch, Bind

Touch, Scratch, Bind

Porcelain, wood, blankets, string, plastic hanger, motion sensor light. 2009.

Inside

Inside

Blankets, furniture, ink on paper, translucent porcelain, terra cotta. 2009.

Take Me Home

Take Me Home

Porcelain, raw clay, handprinted fabric, wood, plastic, moving blanket, gauze, cherry blossoms, paper, ink, video projection. 2009

Mom's Window (Sakura Sew)

Sakura Sew is a revisitation of my experience as a caretaker for my mother. Care-taking involves bathing, listening, bandaging, waiting, brushing, stitching, watching, cleaning, repetition. As a continuation of the activity, no longer necessary, I make each cherry blossom through a ritualistic process in which my lifeline is imprinted into the fragile porcelain. Cherry blossoms represent the ephemeral and transient nature of life, blooming quickly and just as quickly falling to the ground, a life cut short. I sew the blossoms together in a futile attempt to suspend them in time. 

Mom's Window (Sakura Sew)

Porcelain, gauze, thread, wood, video projection. 2009.

Will Versus Fate

When something is destined to break, what survives and what does not? The tension between will and fate drives my exploration of how objects and routines are altered in time of illness. I simulate care-taking rituals and focus on clay as a life cycle: pulled from the earth, molded, imprinted, fired or slaked down, used, displayed or destroyed.

Hold On

Ceramics, surgical tape, steel, 2008

Exposed

Porcelain, gauze, ink, 2009

Concealed

Ceramic, thread, 2008

Detail

Detail

Waking Up: Pieces of a Whole

The series, Waking Up: Pieces of a Whole, is an intersection between private and public life. Illness, frequently hidden from the public sphere of society, much like emotions, is seen as a sign of weakness. This series is a document of a very private and frightening time in a woman’s life; she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Her daily routines were altered by illness. The images depict these routines and the objects necessary to carry them out; the bowls she uses to bathe, her bandage changes, the hole she cut on the left-hand side of her shirt for comfort. She yearned to share her experience with others, to reach out to others, while simultaneously fearing the judgments and discrimination many individuals with disabilities or terminal illness face. This series documents glimpses of private moments as her life is increasingly altered by her condition, as pictures and items become nostalgic objects to hold onto, as she spends hours waiting and focusing on one object while everything else blurs. I continue after she is gone to reach for these images and the strength of her journey and her voice, and to create more in her memory.

Waking Up: Pieces of a Whole

11"x14" color photographs