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Hiromi Takizawa’s installation Crossing the Pacific Ocean explores the ideas of cultural identity, cultural and physical movement, and the distance and speed with which they are spanned in the world today.
The emotions relayed in this work, are not weighed down by the permanence once assumed by the immigrant/emigrant. Instead, we see a contemplation of the personal experience of ‘globalization’ which includes everything from the freedom to choose the culture you wish to surround yourself with (even if it is not your native culture) to providing transportation which will take you from one place to the other faster than your body will naturally adjust to. Ms. Takizawa’s work makes us question whether the physical axiom of quantity changing into quality, ultimately translates the metaphysical concept of cultural distance by frequency to proximity.
The artist says of her work: "(In) Crossing the Pacific Ocean, I find myself contemplating the idea of physical distance that exists between me and my family in Japan. This has produced profound feelings of dislocation and isolation as well as the positive experience of mixing-in and adapting to different cultures in the United States. All of these experiences have become my inspiration. I made tangible a cultural self-portrait, by creating an elusive airplane that appears as a reflection in the blue upon the surface of the glass. All of the airplanes are heading towards the West except for one, which is heading towards the East—in the direction of my memories of home, my childhood, and the culture that nurtured me."
Born and raised in Nagano, Japan, Hiromi Takizawa studied art at California State University at Fullerton from where she received her BA (2005) and an MA (2007) for which she studied with artist & teacher Katherine Gray. Currently she lives and works in Richmond, VI.
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