Pleasure Quarters
6 feet in diameter
2011
2011 installation during SOMArts Spring Open Studios
Statement
The Pleasure Quarters installation combines my City of Shoes and Floating World installations. The cages represents mizushobai or the water trade, named as such because houses of prostitution, theaters and drinking houses were built along the shores of rivers. Although life in the pleasure quarters was depicted romantically by ukiyo-e artists such as Utamaro, Sharaku and Harunobu, in reality the women who worked in these houses were sold by destitute farming families and had to work off onerous debts for much of their lives. The shoes symbolize the unspoken world of burakumin, historically living in segregated villages within cities because of their livelihood in tanning, curing, disposing of the dead and other defiling occupations. It is my desire to draw the viewer into discussion of class, race and gender through this visually pleasing installation.
The Pleasure Quarters installation combines my City of Shoes and Floating World installations. The cages represents mizushobai or the water trade, named as such because houses of prostitution, theaters and drinking houses were built along the shores of rivers. Although life in the pleasure quarters was depicted romantically by ukiyo-e artists such as Utamaro, Sharaku and Harunobu, in reality the women who worked in these houses were sold by destitute farming families and had to work off onerous debts for much of their lives. The shoes symbolize the unspoken world of burakumin, historically living in segregated villages within cities because of their livelihood in tanning, curing, disposing of the dead and other defiling occupations. It is my desire to draw the viewer into discussion of class, race and gender through this visually pleasing installation.
City of Shoes
2010 sculpture 16"x15"7"
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Installation for Hidden Cities Exhibition at New Century Artists Gallery, Chelsea, NYC. The backs of the shoes are imprinted with photographs of itinerant street musicians.
City of Shoes Statement
I come from the City of Shoes. The inhabitants look like everyone else, but they work in shoemaking and tanning leather. They butcher our meat, dispose of the dead. They are lowly street musicians, ringing bells and pounding drums, walking advertisements for telephone sex. They live among us, but are invisible, because what they do disgusts us. This pile of paper shoes is all we need to see -- clean, shining, undefiled.
Installation for Hidden Cities Exhibition at New Century Artists Gallery, Chelsea, NYC. The backs of the shoes are imprinted with photographs of itinerant street musicians.
City of Shoes Statement
I come from the City of Shoes. The inhabitants look like everyone else, but they work in shoemaking and tanning leather. They butcher our meat, dispose of the dead. They are lowly street musicians, ringing bells and pounding drums, walking advertisements for telephone sex. They live among us, but are invisible, because what they do disgusts us. This pile of paper shoes is all we need to see -- clean, shining, undefiled.
Floating World
Installation of 108 cages in a variety sizes
Floating World consists of a row of paper-covered cages either suspended from the ceiling or arranged on tables. Many of the cages have a woman in them, some have crickets, others are empty. The cages are lit so that the shadow of the internal object is reflected. As you walk by the cages, you hear the distinctive sound of Japanese bell crickets. The combination of tightly clustered baskets, dimly flickering images and the sound of insects are intended to evoke peace and disquiet.
Floating World Statement
A country prostitute plies her trade along with her "sisters" behind latticed windows. A pale hand grasps the sleeve of a walking by. Her face is a shadow behind the screen, her sweet voice arouses him in the fantasy of sexual pleasure. Is the woman a prisoner or temptress? One implies subjugation and weakness, the other, control and power. The viewer is invited to explore this question, not only as it relates to Japanese women of a certain era, but to womens' lives and personae today.
Floating World Statement
A country prostitute plies her trade along with her "sisters" behind latticed windows. A pale hand grasps the sleeve of a walking by. Her face is a shadow behind the screen, her sweet voice arouses him in the fantasy of sexual pleasure. Is the woman a prisoner or temptress? One implies subjugation and weakness, the other, control and power. The viewer is invited to explore this question, not only as it relates to Japanese women of a certain era, but to womens' lives and personae today.
