Erica Kaminishi

Islands follows the conceptual line of experimental works from the Culture of Amorphous Words series, which Erica Kaminishi has been developing since 2005. In this series, she introduces two significant elements that approach the question of memory and identity: a collage of maps of Japanese islands and a poem by Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935, Portugal):

Longe de mim em mim existo Longe de mim em mim existo À parte de quem sou,

A sombre e o movimento em que consisto.

Far from me in me I exist Far from me in me I exist Apart from who I am,

The shadow and the movement in which I consist.

Each composition has organic forms, mimicking a scientific process of cellular culture, where the object is isolated to investigate its origins and its identity. Kaminishi transforms Islands into small, insular memories cultivated in petri dishes, deconstructing standardized landscapes in order to rescue elements of the imaginary, where the original notion of senses and objects is nurtured.

Erica Kaminishi (1979) is a Japanese-Brazilian artist who lives and works between Brazil and France. Her work is based on the poetic nature of the written word, both as an element of visual composition and as a contextual idea relating to identity. Individual exhibitions include National Foundation of Arts (Sao Paulo, Brazil), and Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, both 2011. Group exhibitions include Aichi Triennale (Nagoya, Japan), 2010; Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (Japan), 2012; Oscar Niemeyer Museum (Curitiba, Brazil), 2016; and the Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, USA), 2017.