Solo Exhibition : Heart Needs Home

What I Lost and What I Found through Pandemic, Injury, and War

I made everything from scratch and it came from my heart. It is very personal, but sometimes art can be universal that people also experience. We all have been through a pandemic and a war is happening on our planet. No matter how those things reflect us, we need to move on. And wherever we go, we need a home. Let the wound speak through colors and shapes.

This exhibit shows four different elements including artworks that pay tribute to my good friend Ron Gorchov who passed away in 2020, a miniature of Khrushchyovka to hope for peace in Ukraine, keyboard fantasies which originally inspired by my injury in 2021, and a miniature parade of my undestroyed memories.  All artworks are going to be sold and part of sales will be donated to people in Ukraine.

SUNNY'S BAR 253 Conover Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231

Through September 11 - October 15

Opening Reception  September 16, 5-730

Red Hook Open Studio  October 8 - 9

Closing Celemony + Tetsuro's Piano Performance October 13, 8-10

Artist Statement

First of all, welcome to Sunny's Bar! This bar opened for business in 1890 and is one of most historic bars in New York. This place is also known as an institution for artists and musicians to meet together and discuss art and life. This is how I get hooked here and keep myself creative.

My solo exhibition is called "Heart Needs Home". The title comes from one of the movie props “Next Stop Wonderland" (1992). This movie is full of Bossa Nova music and always makes me feel saudade for my life in Boston (and funny Jon Benjamin was so young!). When the main character lost her navigation in life, she always opened her lost father's poem book Heart Needs Home.

Sunny's makes us feel like a home. In the past two years since the pandemic started, everyone's lives have been changed. I made art based on what happened to my life these two years. My trauma and wounds were transformed into artworks, to find the clue of a solution. We all experienced darkness, but it’s time to shine awake from hibernation. And I think the key is home—wherever you feel warm, cozy and welcomed.

"Keyboard Fantasies"

I made five keyboard artworks based on my injury from last summer in Vermont. I had tendonitis from an accident while hiking and I wasn't able to play the piano for almost a year. I am a professional pianist and I had a big struggle in my career because of this. This is a reflection on feeling that burden, thinking about playing the piano and fighting with pain.

"Duo"

I made several paired dimensional artworks based on losing my friend two years ago. Ron Gorchov was one of my first New York friends who I always met at a local coffee shop, Black Flamingo. Ron was also my favorite artist and made me like abstract art for the first time in my life. After he passed away at age 90 in 2020, I visited his grave in summer, 2021. Ron visited me in my dream in January 2022, and he gave me a vision to make these artworks for Sunny's. This installation is pretty much the same from what I saw in my dream. The shapes are soft and curved, the texture is something organic. I cared about rhythm and tempo for the composition. I appreciate Erin and Sean who made it possible to install on Sunny’s wall exactly what was in my dream.

"Khrushchyovka"

I grew up in a suburb of Japan called Chiba where a lot of housing projects are built. We call it "Danchi". That architecture is influenced by the Soviet Union's Khrushchyovka. There are still so many Khrushchyovka in Russia and Ukraine. Since the war started this March, my heart was painfully squeezed by seeing Khrushchyovka attacked by Russia, especially those buildings similar to where I grew up. We all have our own colors and live together in a community, no matter what size it is. The earth is a planet we share in common, where we can have our own life and sometimes conflict with others. But freedom shouldn't be destroyed by someone's ego and control. Because we have consciousness.

"Improvisation Between Black Keys and White Keys"

I made this painting to conclude my creating process for this solo exhibition. This painting shows what I learned and felt during these eight months of making art. Time to carry forward all the good experiences and leave behind the bad experiences. My tendinitis is now 90% healed. Maybe it's time to play music again. Or more exploring for making art. Only improvising can tell me what I will do next.

"The Miniature Parade of My Protected Life"

This is my fourth imaginary miniature project based on my childhood in a housing complex in Japan. I wanted to make miniatures that transformed my actual life events into anything that makes me feel good. Those are amulets and provide protection from bad energies. It is a universal thing to have amulets in any country.