| In search of lost time, an exhibition of Kazuko Miyamoto’s work at Gallery 128, spans four decades of work, 1969-2009, some of which was never shown in public. The show is comprised of string constructions, paintings, sculpture, works on paper, and photographs documenting past work and performances. Employing non-traditional art materials, such as brown paper, newspaper, string, sheetrock, twigs, building material, and found material, Miyamoto brings a child-like playfulness to formal construction. Her work combines two directions: on the one hand—the organic, lyrical, playful; on the other—the geometric, minimal, conceptual, and formal. |  |
Zoe Firth
In search of lost time, an exhibition of Kazuko Miyamoto’s work at Gallery 128, spans four decades of work, 1969-2009, some of which was never shown in public. The show is comprised of string constructions, paintings, sculpture, works on paper, and photographs documenting past work and performances. Employing non-traditional art materials, such as brown paper, newspaper, string, sheetrock, twigs, building material, and found material, Miyamoto brings a child-like playfulness to formal construction. Her work combines two directions: on the one hand—the organic, lyrical, playful; on the other—the geometric, minimal, conceptual, and formal. The meditative stillness of Zen, and the structured context of minimalism combine to create a quiet universe. A curious meeting of a conceptual impulse with a poetic attitude underlies these works, infusing them with a mix of intelligence and feeling.
The string constructions, made with lengths of string attached at both ends to the floor and the adjoining walls with nails, create volume by repetition. The string functions as line here, similar to pencil markings in a drawing. The meticulous labor that has gone into the construction of these pieces is mind-boggling. The layering of the strings achieve a translucency that comprises light and volume. Cones within cones, hemispheres within rectangular prisms present visual conundrums. Elsewhere, the geometry of strings is replaced by organic twists of brown paper. Ladders are torqued into shape with paper twirled around itself and held together with bits of twigs. In these wall hangings, space is more or less organically conceived, reflecting rhythms found in nature. In other 3D work that uses slender twigs, such as Tunnel for Cat (2007), string pieces weave through the delicate construction, producing airy, open-ended cylinders.
A photograph documents an installation, The Bell Bridge, done on Ward Island in 1980. The structure stretches 40 feet between two trees, like a horizontal ladder. Extending into a visionary territory where ideas and emotions merge, the ephemeral sculpture becomes a seamless fit of the constructed and the natural. A huge black painting, titled, Stormy Weather (1982), dominates the space in the front gallery. It is inspired by a visit to a small town in Austria. The inky black background is painted with charcoal mixed with paint, depicting traces of lightning, a single star, rain, and enormous space. The foreground is decorated with minute forget-me-nots. A wooden church, made of wood, sits on the skirt of the painting, partially laid out on the floor. It casts a painted shadow on the surface, referring, perhaps, to Miyamoto’s spiritual landscape. The immediacy of the image within an image, the 3D church set against the surrounding deep darkness, embodies memories foreshortened into visual cues.
Kazuko Miyamoto’s giant kimonos, a body of work consisting of collaged newspapers, photographs, and drawings, hark back to her Japanese heritage. Used in her performances as costume, canvas, and prop, the kimonos become mapping devices for time travel, a way of looking back. In similar fashion, wooden constructions of stars are means of looking forward, toward the future.
