Fonda Yoshimoto: November 2009

Touch, Scratch, Bind

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

Inside

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

Take Me Home

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

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

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