In One Breath

Manami Ishimura

2025

Ant, glass, agar, sugar, water, sand, brass, steel, fan, copper, resin, PVC pipe

On July 20, my son Ryo entered this world without breath, a moment missed as he was immediately whisked away due to medical complications while I lay unconscious under anesthesia. It took two days for him to recover in the NICU and finally meet me, a delay that underscored the fragility and uncertainty of life's beginnings.

In response to this life-changing experience, In One Breath seeks to embody this moment in a tangible form. A cast glass sculpture, reimagined as a womb, holds agar cast in the shape of my own placenta, nourishing a colony of ants. Encased in glass, the ants travel as if blood circulates through an umbilical cord, pulsing like a heartbeat. This practice generates a complex network of nests within a human-size ant farm akin to an energy transitional drawing while the glass enclosure renders it visible yet untouchable. The ephemeral nature of the installation serves as a metaphor for the mystic power of pregnancy, from the maternal body to birth. "In One Breath" honors life's essence, prompting reflection on birth and decay's transformative energies.