Masako Miki鈥檚 New Mythologies offers a reimagining of the Shinto concept of Tsukumogami y艒kai: inanimate domestic objects imbued with the spirit of a person or animal. Running at CULT Aimee Friberg Exhibitions鈥櫬爊ew location within聽“, Miki鈥檚 third solo exhibition with the gallery includes bronze tabletop works, watercolour paintings and felt sculptures鈥攁 joyful celebration of the 鈥渋nbetweenness鈥 of identity.聽
Born in Osaka, Japan, Miki moved to the USA when she was 18 and now lives in the Bay Area of San Francisco. The artist has become known for her anamorphic y艒kai sculptures, partly inspired by a residency in Japan incorporating visits to mountainside Shinto shrines. Bouncy, felt-coloured foam sculptures propped up on spindly wooden legs (splayed like the base of an easel), these pieces seem to split the difference between pop-art folly, child鈥檚 toy and commercial domestic ornament, suggesting an obscure functional use that can鈥檛 be unravelled. At the same time, anthropomorphic details like lips and hands, and their strange, fluid quality, suggests living entities captured in motion.
For New Mythologies, the artist has added bronze to her repertoire of materials, patterned in opalescent automobile paints to create a glassy, reflective finish reminiscent of the uncanny perfection of Jeff Koons鈥檚 polished bunnies and balloon dogs. Miki鈥檚 work in metal has been conceived across a variety of sizes, and with the patina of untreated bronze offsetting the light-patterns created by the sheen of industrial paint, inviting a range of sensory and emotional reactions. These objects, such as Contemplating Chestnut Shapeshifter, are placed in front of fluorescent watercolours and friezes showing amorphous flora and fauna, nodding to the tradition of Japanese scrolls鈥攊n particular the idea of a night-time procession of spirits through the physical realm.
These works bring to mind the legacy of pop art, including Claes Oldenburg鈥檚 blown-up sculptures of household objects. But they are shifted beyond the realm of consumer-age irony through their spiritual and cultural connotations. A strong association with Shinto tradition 鈥 which, as the artist notes, holds that 鈥渆verything in the universe is imbued with a spirit…is always more than one singular entity 鈥 鈥 imbues the work with a quality of sacredness, in spite of their shopfront dazzle. The connotations of the objects themselves run a gamut from the religious to the secular 鈥 from prayer beads to back scratchers 鈥 while their curvaceous, pulsating appearance suggests an animated energy straining at the confines of form.
That quality of metamorphosis also speaks to notions of split and nonbinary identities: across gender, sexuality, ethnicity and, above all for Miki, associations of home. As a young immigrant to the USA, she recalls, 鈥渢here was this urge for me to finishing becoming someone, but in that process I realised I don鈥檛 have to have a fixed identity.鈥 Her ebullient household spirits reflect a sense of identity forged through endless becoming. 鈥淎 shapeshifter,鈥 she says, 鈥渋s a reminder that we can shift and we can change. Keep yourself open and evolve.鈥
Masako Miki, New Mythologies, is on display at CULT Aimee Friberg Exhibitions until September 25. More information .
Words: Greg Thomas
Image Credits:
1. Masako Miki, Left:聽Ichiren-Bozu (Animated prayer beads), 2021. Painted Bronze H 11 in. x W 3 in. x D 3 in. Center:聽Kuchisake 鈥 Onnna (Mouth tear woman), 2021. Painted Bronze H 8 录 in. x W 7 in. x D 2.5 in.聽Right:聽Nyoijizai (Animated back-scratcher), 2021. Painted Bronze H 8.5 in. x W 6 in. x D 6 in. Courtesy of the artist and CULT Aimee Friberg Exhibitions.聽
2. Masako Miki, Dango Mushi Ghost (Roly-Polly Insect Shapeshifter), 2021. 35 (H) x 20 (L) x 16 (D) inches. Wool on EPS foam, walnut wood. Photo by John Wilson White. Courtesy of the artist and CULT Aimee Friberg Exhibitions.聽
3. Masako Miki, Nyoijizai (Animated back-scratcher), 2021. Painted Bronze, H 8.5 in. x W 6 in. x D 6 in.
Photo by John Wilson White. Courtesy of the artist and CULT Aimee Friberg Exhibitions.
4. Masako Miki, Ichiren-Bozu (Animated prayer beads), 2021. Painted Bronze, H 11 in. x W 3 in. x D 3 in.
Photo by John Wilson White. Courtesy of the artist and CULT Aimee Friberg Exhibitions.聽
5. Masako Miki, Left:聽Animated Hinoki Tree, 202173 (H) x 23 (D) inches. Wool on EPS foam, walnut wood. Right:聽Animated Pine Tree,聽202136 1/2 (H) x 25 (L) x 16 (D) inches. Wool on EPS foam, cherry wood. Photo by John Wilson White. Courtesy of the artist and CULT Aimee Friberg Exhibitions.聽
