Kahori kamiya

Face Mask for 2120 (2020)

Acrylic, enamel, wood, fabric, studs, silk flowers. 15x10x10 (inches).

Artist’s statement

This sculptural face mask is an extension of my previous works that explored the concept of social armor through wearable sculptures and collage paintings. I was inspired to make this face mask by people who fight the coronavirus, isolation, and
feeling of loss.

My choice of materials is influenced by the Drag Queen, Geisha, and Punk subcultures. Since I grew up in the desolation of Japanese blue/black school uniforms, I’ve always fantasized about these contrary and flamboyant styles. I utilize diverse materials like gold studs, spandex, and neon colored fur assembled together to express their fighting spirits.

About the Artist

Kahori Kamiya was born in Nagoya, Japan and moved to New York, where she received her MFA at the School of Visual Arts. She was the winner of the face mask contest at Hudson Valley Contemporary Museum in 2020.

Exhibitions

Oculus Westfield World Trade Center, New York
Carrie Able Gallery, Brooklyn
DIY Cultures, London
Index Art Gallery, Newark, NJ
Puffin Cultural Forum, Teaneck, NJ
Solo exhibition, Prospect Gallery, Australia
Dumbo Arts Festival, Brooklyn
The 14th Media Art Biennale Alternative Now, Poland
Soho 20 Chelsea Gallery, New York

Kahori Kamiya was born in Nagoya, Japan and moved to New York, where she received her MFA at the School of Visual Arts. She was the winner of the face mask contest at Hudson Valley Contemporary Museum in 2020.

Featured Artist

Kahori Kamiya was our featured artist from February 16-22. Here she shares a deeper look at her work and her artist’s life.

5 questions

1. Some of your works, such as Nightingale, Children of Aphrodite, and Female Auction enclose women in environments that exploit them. What inspired these narratives? Can you unpack these three works for us?

In my paintings, I focus on socially filtered women. This theme is rooted in my hypnotherapy to see my previous life as a trafficked geisha girl. Since this experience, I wanted to spotlight female human trafficked victims and fix this global issue. For example, in “Children of Aphrodite”, I painted trafficked children’s mental journeys. The left girl presents her ignorance of the world. She is just happily holding her synthetic wig for her work. Then I wanted to show her transformation after knowing her world better. The baby presents their early pregnancy and the Column shows male authority, with the scratch at the bottom indicating a desire to break it down. The patterns of flowers, geometric shapes, and chain motif are used as symbols for the duality of murderer/healer.

2. Several of your works refer either obliquely or directly to the nature of mothers and motherhood, pushing back against the narrative that the mother is a tender or pliant being – in Eruptive Rhapsody, Milk High, and 4th of July you seem to delve into more personal sides of motherhood. Can you share some of your insights about this alternate narrative? How have you experienced the motherhood narrative in your own life?

The most current sculptural hanging-works are focused on my breastfeeding time. My breastfeeding was an extreme experience between pain and pleasure. Especially women who don’t naturally produce milk well, breastfeeding is an every-two-hours sleepless labor work that is run in a very solitary environment. By stitching thick foam with a long needle and attaching golden studs on wooden panels, I am re-experiencing my physical suffering during my several mastitis and my baby’s surgeries due to breast sucking issues. Also, the hotter temperature and hardness of plaster reminds me of my breasts. During the breastfeeding time, because of its function, shape, and sensation I felt totally another troublesome creature on top of my chest. This emotion is expressed as a viscerally abstracted breast shape on the wooden panel. 

 3. What is the situation with COVID where you are in terms of things open or closed?  What  project can you tell us about that is relating to our pandemic experience?

 In response to this lockdown experience, I made a performance piece, The Sky Has Been Nowhere, which I performed at Radiator Gallery's Instagram live Video. This piece elicits this isolation, struggle, and desperation during lockdown time. Staying inside an uncomfortably small box, I tried to make art inside the box and get materials from the top of the box that I couldn’t see. Hardness to get materials from top of the box illuminates our over demand and difficulty of online shopping. Also, destruction of all the materials expressed our normal daily life that unintentionally was lost forever. 

4. What attracted you to participating in the Babel Masks exhibition?

 My artist friend who saw my face mask on Instagram recommended me to apply your exhibition and I am more than happy to be a part of your show. The catalog looks really great and I am very impressed to see other talented artists' face masks. 

5. What advice would you have for an artist who is just beginning their path? 

When I was an art student, I traveled abroad to see different countries' arts, cultures, and people. Right now traveling is very limited, but I would like to recommend young artists to visit different countries to explore wider knowledge and perspectives.