Writing by Zoe Cinel
Curator Rochester Art Center, MN
About the artist:
Mayumi Amada is a Japanese artist based in MN whose work is informed by her personal cultural heritage, her experience of migration to the US, and a deep appreciation for the creative power of nature.
Zen philosophy, Buddhism and her upbringing in the Japanese countryside influenced the essential and poetic quality of Amada’s installations. Her work explores universally relatable themes, metaphorically and physically, through the use of repetition as a means for abstraction. Amada applies traditional techniques, historically used by her women for art and craft, to artificial materials such as plastic. Through that she investigates ancestry and regeneration, as they relate to the infinite cycle of life and the natural world.
In Amada’s research water is often present because it is the basis of life on the planet and it is fundamental to the regeneration of every creature. Amada considers art and beauty as part of life: water’s many qualities, including transparency, is a great inspiration for the artist. Conceptually water also relates to Amada’s experience of immigration. Water travels the world through oceans, rivers and rain, moving minerals and sediments. Similarly immigrants cross political and geographical borders bringing their unique culture to new places.
About the exhibition:
Once and Forever presents artworks that are dense with dual meanings and encourages us, in a gentle and poetic way, to reflect on the deep connection that we as humans share, with both the natural and the artificial worlds. “Once” refers to the incomplete life cycle of synthetic materials, but could also be read as unity and harmony; “Forever” alludes both to the regenerative flux of water and the cycle of life, and to the imperishable nature of man-made objects.
Water is at the center of human life. Innumerous cultures have observed its qualities and celebrated the blessings it brings: in Buddhism, water stands for purity, regeneration, and the inextinguishable flow of being. In our region of Minnesota water is the tangible presence of a harsh yet friendly neighbor. Rain feeds rivers and the abundantly lushious flora; rain turns into sleet and into snow that covers everything with its magical yet cumbersome presence. When snow becomes ice, it suspends life - but just momentarily! - until it pours it again at melting and allows flowers and plants to blossom to their potential. Beyond careful observation of natural phenomena, water inspires Amada to explore ideas of eternity, mortality and environmental preservation.
For this exhibition Amada created mushrooms, water lilies, blooming flowers, and rainfalls using a variety of common plastic from repurposed objects. Like water, plastic can be transparent and interact with light creating intricate illusions of visible and invisible. Like water, plastic assumes softer or harsher forms. Like tsunamis, floods and storms, plastic has a threatening nature, but it has also become a necessity for human life in the contemporary era: it allows us to filter contaminated water, and is indispensable for medical devices that augment our bodies. But unlike water, plastic does not regenerate, does not nourish and does not naturally participate in the cycle of life.
Once and Forever invites us to live simply and sustainably by considering the full life of disposable objects and their participation into the cycle of life.