In Japanese Shinto belief, there are spirits around us, spirits that have no home, and spirits that reside in the organic and inorganic. We are not able to visibly see them, however we are able to feel their presence through meditation by obtaining a certain level of enlightenment.
Drawing from this philosophy, I work with wood and fluorescent light to create man-made objects that connect myself to these spirits. Ideally these objects become homes for the spirits to reside. George Nakashima, a furniture designer who used a variety of exotic wood, said that every living tree has a living soul. He produced wooden pieces that spoke to how the tree/spirit lives. In my own beliefs, I am compelled to present how the soul currently exists within the objects I have created.
Including light with or within the object, you’re able to focus on how the space is disconnected and reconnected to its own individual “realm”or its structure. Light and space artists such as Dan Flavin use ready-made fluorescents to distinguish a given room. By limiting conceptually what the pieces were about, his intention of displaying the temporal was made clear. The lights are temporary, the space is temporary and the surrounding is always changing.
Light is forgiving. It also can divide an environment in which people can be invited to. With this the audience is subject to view and confront structures both as art pieces and as domestic objects, which coexists in the same spectrum of reality.