Strata: slumbering on the shore. The artist produces a series of cast naphthalene objects encapsulated in resin. Keys and books are significant motifs recurring throughout her work, and she has collected many in the UK for this exhibition.
White Rainbow is pleased to commission Aiko Miyanaga to create a new body of
work for the Liverpool Central Library during the Liverpool Biennial 2014.
Miyanaga is known for her site-specific installations: using ephemeral materials
such as salt and naphthalene, her practice visualises transition. Transformation
starts at the point the work is exposed to the air, physically dissolving, yet
challenging the evanescence of the present. Through an array of media that
may seem delicate – thin strings of crystallised salt, the sounds of ceramic glass
cracking – Miyanaga contrasts material resilience with the flux condition of nature:
her work becomes a microcosm of our being and surroundings.
Miyanaga will produce a series of cast naphthalene objects encapsulated in
resin. Keys and books are significant motifs recurring throughout her work, and
she has collected many in the UK for this exhibition. Napthalene is a volatile
compound which sublimates and re-solidifies to release itself from the resin.
Naphthalene objects do not simply vanish, instead they are altered by the
conditions of temperature and humidity, and ultimately replaced by the air in
the gallery space, and even the breath of the visitors. Some of the pieces will
have a limited airflow, holding them in a stable state as they lie dormant for their
moments to be integrated into reading, whilst some will be allowed to sublimate.
Bubbles are purposefully let into the resin, capturing the ‘atmosphere’ of the
space in which the object was cast: each sculptural piece incorporates layers of
time. Miyanaga’s perspective on the library is more than a collection of words,
books or representation of history; she values hidden meanings and traces of
thoughts. The exhibition incorporates the library’s historic magnifying glass,
allowing the viewer to read through these strata of the present.
Miyanaga’s work is one vestige of a larger whole, a stage in the continuous cycle
of the elements – it is an apparatus which asks us to pause, to read between the
lines and to wonder with serendipity.
Aiko Miyanaga (born in 1974 in Kyoto) graduated from Graduate School of Fine
Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts in 2008 and is a Visiting Scholar at the University
of Kyoto Art and Design. Her notable exhibitions include: Sapporo International
Art Festival 2014, (Sapporo, 2014); House, Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, 2013); Aiko
Miyanaga: Nakasora – The reason for eternity, The National Museum of Art (Osaka,
2012); Beginning of the landscapes, Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, 2011); Aichi Triennale
2010, Aichi Arts Center (Nagoya, 2010), Mirage of Water at Shiseido Art Egg (Tokyo,
2009). She received the grand prize of the Nissan Art Award 2013, Japan; The Gotoh
Memorial Foundation Newcomer’s Art Prize; and The Creative Tradition Prize
by Japan Arts Foundation, Japan, 2011; winner of the Best Young Artist Award by
ShContemporary 09 – Discoveries, China.
Liverpool Central Library and Archive provides a world-class service in a
magnificent building located in the cultural quarter of a UNESCO World Heritage
Site. The historic sections of the building dating back to the 1860s have recently
been extensively restored and fully opened to the public for the first time. The
new-build sections include a dramatic atrium, high quality visitor facilities, access
to extensive library and archive collections, free access to computers and wi-fi, a
state-of-the-art repository for the archives and special collections which date back
to the 13th century, and a conservation studio.
White Rainbow is a gallery established as a platform for contemporary and post-
war art from Japan. It shares work which is timeless yet of its time; addresses
the local, yet is borderless in its relevance. Its ethos is to place the work in
the context of its production, and to find counterpoint in its current setting.
Through its programme of exhibitions, events and residencies, it hopes to deepen
understanding and expand perceptions of Japanese art.
Image: Aiko Miyanaga, book -key- / book -puzzle-, 2013. Mixed media © Aiko Miyanaga. Courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery
Press and RSVP
info@white-rainbow.co.uk
The Picton Reading Room
Liverpool Central Library
William Brown Street - Liverpool L3 8EW
Opening Times
Mon–Fri 9:00–20:00
Sat 9:00–17:00
Sun 10:00–17:00