Two Passageways (2007), Salt, antique bathtub, porcelain, quarter-inch audio tape, sound and video. Dimension variable

Two Passageways, a site-specific mixed media installation, was presented at the Signal Flow Festival in February 2007 in the outside portico of the Mills College Music Building. It was inspired by the Spanish colonial revival architecture of the building and the history of Mills College as the Young Ladies Seminary founded in 1852. The ritualistic and self-questioning gesture within the installation also portrays my personal response to the site as a Japanese artist, influenced by the interconnectedness of Eastern philosophy.

Planted along the long rectangular portico, the camellia trees were bearing red flowers. They are indigenous to Eastern Asia and I remember seeing them vividly in my grandparents’ garden every winter. The building’s two wings bridged by this portico had symbolic European and Islamic Art influences on the each architectural portal. It was eloquent to me, to situate the installation in this portico – During the time that this piece was conceived, the conflict between the US and the Middle East was a significant feature of the geopolitical landscape – While not specifically referenced in the appearance of the work, I responded to this volatile issue by creating a reflective installation that I created on the landscape of salt, with a meditative sound diffused across 50 feet in the portico of Littlefield Concert Hall at Mills College.

My body tells me when to bathe

My skin soaks in water 
and deepens my thoughts

Rake the salt, like nuns do
in her garden of sand