Misako Inaoka

Personal Website

http://www.misakoinaoka.com

Bio

Born in Kyoto Japan, lives and works in San Francisco. About her work the artist says: “My interests arise from the boundary between what we call natural and artificial. I observe the physical and social environment in detail, to find hidden beauty and peculiarity– things such as a cell phone antenna in the shape of a pine tree, birds that are not native to the area, or moss growing in a crack of cement sidewalk. I emphasize these subtle details and exaggerate their illogicality to cultivate my own version of invented creatures.

To arouse notions of existence and coexistence, I construct environments that are rooted in the reality of vanishing species and mutating nature. My minuscule sculptures and site-specific installations force viewers to focus on small details and to take a harder look at their surroundings. My world is not a creation of total imagination, but is a hybrid of the artificial and the actual.”

Misako Inaoka 出生于日本京都，现在生活和工作于美国旧金山。关于她的作品这位艺术家这么说道：“我的研究兴趣形成于我们称之为自然的与人工的这两者间的分界线。我通过仔细观察自然与社会环境，来发掘隐藏的美与奇异现象——像一个拥有松树形的手机天线，一种不属于本土的鸟类，或者是水泥人行道缝隙间的苔藓。我着重这些微妙的细节并且夸大这些不合理来建立我自己版本的虚拟生物。

为了唤起存在与共存的概念，我构想了一个环境，这个环境植根于正在物种消逝和自然转变的现实中。我的微型雕塑与特定场地装置强迫观者关注微小细节并且更进一步得观察他们的周围环境。我的世界不是一个纯粹想像的创作，而是一个人工的与现实的混合体。”

Project

NOTE: “Chimerism” is only featured in the Cantocore: Import/Export show in Guangzhou along with the “Zen Garden.”

Chimerism, live installation

This work rethinks the meaning of Made in America, China or any one place. Misako Inaoka creates hybrid creatures from “Made in China” products. During Cantocore: Import/Export, Inaoka developed a new series of creations with available materials on-site. For Cantocore: Free On Board, some of those toys are presented in the form of a zen garden. Inaoka is particularly interested in the reaction and recognizability of the “object” before and after the the transportation of objects to the space as well as the origin of creature/object. “Chimerism” also is open to community participation with the artist working with participants to extend this installation.

嵌合体，装置

Inaoka利用中国制造的产品来创造混合生物体或物件，从而重新思考“制造于……”, “由……制造”, 和”从……来”等问题的意义。艺术家将用这次展览地可用的材料来发展一个新的作品系列。她特别感兴趣的是“物体”在运输前后和中国或发源地内外的反映性和可辨认性。

“Zen Garden”, installation, 2009

For Cantocore: Import/Export in Guangzhou, Misa created hybrid objects from Chinese toys. In the process of seeking these toys, Misa discovered an amazing market with artificial rocks, grass and fruit. For the Cantocore exhibition in Guangzhou, in addition to having the toys, Misa created the Zen Garden to fit in the space with fabricated mobile rocks. “Zen Garden” in the San Francisco part of Cantocore is the most recent update to the original project.