Motherhood, an exhibition at Up&Coming, Tokyo, Japan, featuring three artists who are also mothers. What does it mean to become a parent? New life comes into the world, and a new kind of death emerges. Faced with this surging vitality, we feel a mix of elation and anxiety, swept up in the new encounters brought about by our own bodies. in this exhibition, three artists with distinct styles, Manami Ishimura, Kaho Shimizu, Moe Nakamura, engage with the theme of "Motherhood" to present new works.

The exhibition was supported by Asahi Shinbun Foundation and Tama Art University

Porous Being #1

2026

fermented rice by chewing, blown borosilicate glass, iron cast weighing the same as the artist did at birth, brass, PVC pipe, steel

dimensions variable

By chewing rice to initiate fermentation with the bacteria in my saliva and sealing it in glass vessels that I blew with my own breath, I merge processes of growth, respiration, and transformation.

In Porous Being, the vessels capture the gas produced by fermentation and are connected to ¼-inch tubing sealed at the end with a bubble solution. As the tubing follows a brass structure, the fermentation gas gradually pushes against the surface of the bubble solution and is released into the surrounding space as delicate soap bubbles that form and burst. This circulation of energy from rice to gas through chewing, and through my breath, connects the earth with my body’s internal systems.

The installation is anchored by an iron cast weighing the same as I did at birth, suspended within the steel structure. This weight draws attention to the body’s center of gravity and its alignment with the earth’s gravitational pull.

As I breastfeed my son, and as my body continues both to grow and to decay from the moment of my birth, this work invites reflection on cycles of growth, ephemerality, and the unseen transfers of energy that connect bodies

The exhibition includes the work, Porous Being #2 as well

Those works were supported by Liu Shiming Art Foundation

Photographed by David Carley