Work #9
The work of Aiko Miyawaki, like many Japanese avant-garde artists, was inspired by Minimalism, Conceptualism, and East Asian philosophy and aesthetics. Beginning her career as a painter in the late 1950s, Miyawaki spent the following decade in Los Angeles, Milan, Paris, and New York. After returning to Japan in 1966, she devoted her practice to sculpture, working with polished materials to investigate the intersections of metaphysics, cosmology, and science.
Work #9 is a sculpture consisting of 625 brass units tightly packed into a square and encircled by a brass wheel that sits atop a specially designed pedestal to meet the viewer’s eye. When light reflects off the mirror-like surface, the sculpture radiates like a prism. This configuration makes it appear as if the dense material emits light, achieving Miyawaki’s vision of sculptural dynamism and lucidity. The viewer is meant to interact with the units to further create variable light effects. Deeply influenced by Laozi’s philosophies of flow and change, Miyawaki’s variable sculpture of geometric forms and solid material elicits a range of physical and emotional responses.
Work #9 is a sculpture consisting of 625 brass units tightly packed into a square and encircled by a brass wheel that sits atop a specially designed pedestal to meet the viewer’s eye. When light reflects off the mirror-like surface, the sculpture radiates like a prism. This configuration makes it appear as if the dense material emits light, achieving Miyawaki’s vision of sculptural dynamism and lucidity. The viewer is meant to interact with the units to further create variable light effects. Deeply influenced by Laozi’s philosophies of flow and change, Miyawaki’s variable sculpture of geometric forms and solid material elicits a range of physical and emotional responses.
Artwork Details
- Title: Work #9
- Artist: Aiko Miyawaki (Japanese, Tokyo 1929–2014 Yokohama)
- Date: 1968
- Medium: Brass
- Dimensions: 38 3/4 × 38 3/4 × 5 1/8 in., 162 lb. (98.4 × 98.4 × 13 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 2023
- Object Number: 2024.67
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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