Manami Ishimura

Sublimation

K Space Gallery

Statement

Sublimation is an exhibition to present an appreciation for the natural circulation emerging in everyday life reflecting its ephemeral beauty. The exhibition presents the burning and firing of cultural object; people’s hair and origami cranes, and breaking porcelain as a process of sublimation (昇華) conceptually and chemically.

Shadow of Lives, fusing hair between pieces of glass, burns hair to ash presenting an individual’s pure existence along with their written happy memories. I heat people’s hair sandwiched two glass microscope slides to fuse it and trap the pattern of ash from the hair as the pure essence of life. The objects are absent of people’s appearance influenced by race, color, and cultural perspective. I juxtapose the trapped ash and memories to present a beautiful history and its entity without prejudice.

Thousands of Cranes is a performance installation work in which audience breaks ceramic origami cranes replacing a new origami paper. A Thousand Origami Cranes represents hope for a long life in the folding of the cranes, while simultaneously, the acceptance of laws of nature in the firing process. My art work emphasizes purification through fire by covering origami with porcelain slip and firing it in a soda kiln as a metaphor for the forgiveness of the world. Participants personally experience the natural dynamism and the life’s ephemeral beauty that other cultures also have.

The works in my studio practice and social practice represent efforts to respect and appreciate the essence of the ephemeral existence.