these are my wonderful parents
or more like submerging artist ahahahaha
perpetually feeling uprooted
it’s probably why I make a lot of work regarding community and belonging
I recently discovered a summer camp for transgender youth though
it’s a bittersweet feeling, seeing the kiddos live the childhood you couldn’t even fathom
it’s constantly on my mind
the recognition of how inherently fragile it all is
it’s the reason why I often electroplate these organic figures in copper
to give them a little armor
and my mother again, but hyper-muscular this time
it’s a form of reparenting
making things for my childhood self
such as baby shoes of my wildest dreams
I typically want to make myself smaller
but occasionally I make larger sculptures too
a metropolis in which I can envision my creations thriving
made from materials I forage
like a raccoon in the dumpster
I made this from various electronic components
a compass clock that only points to Japan
a part of me still resides there
a number of years ago I had a bilateral orchiectomy, the removal of both testicles
since then, I began to experience these vivid dreams of seed pods germinating
sending their tentacles down into the cool ground as they yearned upwards, towards the blazing sun
they had been transported down to an ecological landfill in the mountains of Miyoshi, on Shikoku island
after the surgery, there was a period of time where I felt barren
since then though, my studio is teeming with life
miniature patchwork children
made from foraged plants on my walks
a practice influenced by my time spent in non-directive play therapy sessions
to help make better sense of what aspects of my identity makes me feel grounded
I believe it could do the same for others
currently, I do so through leading workshops where participants are invited to mold themselves out of foraged materials
it’s a light-hearted way by which we can trek the infinite variations of ourselves
of the things we do not witness but embody
to stretch the edges of our corporeal bodies
inspired by images of people with Olecranon Bursitis
the desire to become a pterosaur
so as to finally spread my wings
and depart to another realm