works made in
2022
gohan tabete?
20x57x2’’
March 2021-August 2022.
hand embroidered tapestry
while creating this piece, i encountered the loss of a loved one. during COVID-19 my obachan had fallen ill, and only my father could re-enter Japan and say goodbye to her.
this piece changed direction completely upon her passing in the summer of 2021, when it was halfway finished. my obachan, Kayoko-san, and I have mostly communicated through broken English and Japanese, with her expressing care and love like all Asian elders do, by feeding me. i committed myself to creating a beautiful space for us to meet again.
acrylic and natural yarns were used, as well as embroidery floss. the flowers and greenery surrounding the embroidered image of myself and Kayokosan were dyed with logwood, mushrooms, and cochineal.
gohan tabete? is the first artwork i have sold in an official capacity, selling for 3600$ USD in the MassArt 2022 Auction.
weavings
“my shells have kami”
19x27’’
cloud house
hand dyed warp, wool roving, cotton.
36’’x55’’
the hills have eyes!
cotton, handspun wool.
20x15’’
early material studies
i explored wet and needle felting techniques during my sophomore year at MassArt. i sought out to see how much beach detritus and waste could be held and trapped by wet, needle and nuno felting techniques, using excess wool roving i had. i was intrigued by the connection between the sand and the wool as natural materials that can trap and release human excess. i was also curious about the way trash builds up and becomes an intimidating block of matter, similarly to how threads add up to strong and sturdy fabric.
my mother and i had spent our entire beach day being distracted by the hot pink and shiny ocean plastic that washed up on Rockport City Beach. some trash was clearly from beachgoers, but a large amount of the trash we picked was from broken lobster traps, fishing rope, and other trash that escaped fishing vessels.
