FEMININITY IN coNTEMPORARY ASIAN ART

IF TH E SHOE FITS AND VERNAL VISIONS

exhibited at LehmanCollege Art Gallery City Collegeof New York Fisher Art Building, Bard College,Annandale New York 2002-2003 curated by PatriciaEichenbaum Karetzky Seventeen Asian women have contributed to this exhibition of contemporary art. The group is quite varied, comprising Chinese, Japanese,Korean and Indian ancestry, some live in the United States; others are abroad. Some of the artists are middle aged; others are quite young. The artists' work utilizes a number of media and mate- rials: painting, drawing. sculpture, photography, ceramics, textile, video and installation art. Central to the exhibition are the issues of both Western feminine identity and Asian notions of femininity. Several of these women chose to illustrate the "sexy ideal" of native movie stars of Shanghai, Hong Kong or Mumbai (Bollywood); others portray women as young contemporaries in modern day (MTV) attire. Some use multi-ethnic representations of women to illustrate their belief in the universality of their situation.

Many artists use the foot or shoe as a primary focus of personal iden- tity in their art. It is curious that the sexual fixation with alluring footwear that temporarily empowers women and results in the defor- mation of the foot is present in both the East (the bound foot) and the West (the torturous high heel). Enhancedsexual allure leads to being crippled. Ironically drinking champagne/ wine from a high-heeled shoe (Marilyn Monroe) or a tiny brocade slipper for a "lotus foot" (as in the novel Ching Pei Ming) is deemed highly erotic. The price of not adhering to such standard modes of dress may be a loss of self- esteem and of desirability. The Cinderella story, of Chinese origin, highlights the importance of such myths in traditional society and their exploration by these modern Asian artists reveals that they are still potent. In the myth, the desirability of a woman is judged by the size of her foot. Should it be too big, the consequence is complete rejection, as sung in the Fats Waller song, "I love you but your feets too big".

The relevance of such values is evident in contemporary Asia. To the Western viewer in Asia, American born or Asian-Americanswho came early to the West, are readily distinguished from the local population in the way they walk. With upright posture and heads high, such women stride freely, their arms pumping rhythmically at their side. Local women in contrast tend to take small steps, their arms held close to their body, with a mincing gait. Despite their Western apparel and cosmetics, such women are easily identifiable. In com- munication as well, women in Asia are set apart from those in Western society in their general reticence to interact in mixed company. When amused, most Asian women discreetly cover their mouths and titter, rather than laugh wholeheartedly.Their conversa- tion is measured, their voices childlike in pitch and simple in verbal expression. These cultural restraints on female social behavior are the result of traditional Asian values. The women in this exhibition have experiencedWestern style freedom of expressionand as a result are aware of the varied cultural paradigms of feminine behavior and ideas of femininity. They question the appearance and attitude of modernity. which is often set against traditional moral and behavioral vatues.

Though the ancient Asian cultures of India, China, Korea and lapan are quite diverse, their interrelationship extends back to ancient history. The Silk Route, active since the first century of the common era to the ninth century, connected the various cultures from India to Japan. Merchants, mjssionaries and Buddhist monks traveled the routes that linked the oasis cities spanning northern Asia. Art, reli- gion, literature, women's fashion and music flowed back and forth. Also ancient is the well-known role China had on the formulation of traditional culture in Korea and Jaoan. Directlv relevant is the evolu- tion of Confucian societal ideals that fostered a patriarchal society in which women, with few exceptions, were not included in social inter- course outside the home. The Datriarchalideal left inheritance in the hands of male lineage, and valued women for their childbearing capacity, The source of a woman's power was based in her reproduc- tive function and sexual desirability. Not surprisingly such fundamen- tal values are still apparent in contemporary life. Desirability of a female child is still surprisingly low. Modern techniques for determin- in9 the sex of the fetus and aborting those of undesirablesex has led to a radical decrease in the birth rate of girls, replacing the old solu- tion of infanticide. There is already a severe shortage of marriageable women in the countryside. In addition, suicide in rural China is at an all time high, it is the single most frequent cause of premature death of females.

The theme of If the shoe fits. . .asks the ouestion What does it take to be accepted as a woman in modern society, and how does the art of modern Asian women respond to this issue? The focus of the shoe in contemporary women's art arose as an observation made while viewing many of the artists' work. But the importance of the shoe as a symbol of personal identity in contemporary culture is not limited to the Cinderella syndrome, as is evident in several common idiomatic expressions in English. The phrase If the shoe fits. is also a metaphor for one's inner character,often revealing aspects of the per- sonality that is otherwise denied. If the shoe fifs, if the description of one's character is apt, wear lt, that is acknowledge it. The shoe is the mold of the character. Similarly it is said, Those are big shoes to fill, meaning the metaphorical stature of a man is suggested by his foot size. Though deception is possible with the wearing of other articles of clothing, footwear exposes the true self. In the phrase, feet of clay, human fallibility and the revelation of short-comings is expressed. Such sentiments are also conveyed in the sayings, you don't know a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes-wearing another's shoes provides insight into their personality and I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. By contrast, the expression, the clothes make the man suggests that behavior can be altered by outer adorn- ment. Moreover, when standing toe to toe one takes a confrontation- al stance, in contrast to being set back on one's heels. that is put on the defensive. Last but not least, playing footsies, relates the erogenous quality of feet.

Several of the artists in the show concentrate on the ouestion of sex- uality and the promotion of the self. whether in personal relationships or professionally. Cui Xiu wen for example, has recorded the behav- ior of young women administering to their make-up and outfits by placing a hidden camera in a dance club in Beijing. Others have created a Dersonaldiarv of their own artistic adventures and familv Nina Kuo, Mini Chi Pao, Shoeless Lady, Hong Kong, 2000, white linen dress, photo transfer emulsion,22" x 28" history. Nina Kuo, whose work contrasts images of femininity in Asian American culture, has taken a photograph of her grandmother in Nantung, China, showing her with her three-inch lotus slippers for her bound feet. In other works Kuo recreates the sexy chlpao dress made famous ln the movies and on which she silk screens still photographs from old Chinese films. One called Shoeless, shows the barefoot heroine reclining wistfully in bed, her servant holding her high heels aloft, and colorful modern products llke Cherrios and Sllm Fast are interjected onto the black and white scene.

Betty YaQinChou made over five hundreds wax models of her feet and places them in a mandala-like configuration, with a time line that mixes personal and historical events. Chou seeks the roots of her family and their journey from China to the Caribbean Islands. Questions of sexuality and genetic transmission are raised in uncov- ering the evolution of her family tree.

Betty YaQinZhou, Migration, 2000 wax mold of feet, installationfloor space508sq feet, with time line Xing Fei combinespersonal photographs, images of events, objects from her past and calligraphyin a seriesof works entitledJourney. Overlappingimages excavated from her life in Chinaare resurrected in the searchfor the evolutionof her artistlcand personalidentity and the cultural flux in which she developed.Pictures of Mao, printed texts and illustrationsfrom Ming novels, photographsfrom news eventscombine under the large Chinesecharacters for growingup' The multi-layeredsurface of overlappinqimages is like an onion whosetranslucent skins can be peeledaway to get to the core.

xing Fei, Journey: The Cultural Revolution, 2002,oil on canvas,45" x 27"

Using shoes as a metaphor for people, Il Son Hong creates pristine installations made from traditional paper. Old-fashioned Korean flat shoes are shown in contrast to high heels to describe social situa- tions. Solitary has a meticulous line-up of rows of black shoes with one red one placed in variance to the general pattern of the design. Hong admits to loving the shape and appearance of the shoes and often uses them to suggest a narrative. Colors are symbolic-black and white, green and red arrangements of traditional shoes stand respectively for monk's colors and the marriage ceremony. Not only is the happy expectation of marriage set against the solemnity of the monastic existence, the difficulty of both pursuits represented by the pristine objects so far unused, is anticipated. Il Sun HongCommuting 1999,Korean paper, 38" x 43" x 3.5"

The works displayed by Cai lin arso use snoes as a metaphor.Tall silk high heels and ornate evening shoes are sp la tte red with paint to cre- ate a red banana leaf desion.

Cai )in, Banana 124-31,, 1998, silk shoes pigment, Courtesy of the Ethan Cohen Fine Arts Gallery Other artists in the show employ a figurativeart format. Li Hong's worksdepicts women of indeterminateethnic identiy huddled togeth- er in a fish bowl,overshadowed by a giganticorchid and accompanied by commercialexpressions that attest to the superiorityof cosmetic products.The juxtapositionof the hot house flowers, whose parts have been used as a metaphorfor the female generativeorgans, connotesfragility, exoticism and sexuality,The restrainedenvirorn- ment conveystheir peripheralrole of womenin society.

Li Hong, Decent Rebellion, 2002,shower curtain, 70" x 70"

In Safe Handling Instructions Mimi Kim questions the feminine identi- ty of Asian American women by showing a time line of female evolu- tion, from youth to old age, with black and white drawings of figures lined up like a bar graph in a medical-sociologicalchart. In the black. white and gray painting, red is sparingly used to stamp the USDA guarantee of freshness across the genital area. Kim not only chal- lenges society's assumptions about gender. but the very nature of medical knowledge, where feminine health services are often unin- formed and inadequate. In a similar vein, Myths Debunked on Nutritional Facf presumes to correct the old wives' tales of Korea as to the nutritional value of sperm.

l'1rmi Kim, Safe Handling Instructions, 2000, oil on canvas,72" x 48" Siona Benjamin uses ancient images of the Indian female destructive goddess Durga. With her horrible visage, the goddess holds a variety of weapons, she sticks her tongue out in the traditional expression of hostility. But here the blue-skinned deity wears high heeled black pumps and wields modern instruments, a spatula, tennis racquet, spade, fork and iron. Are these the new weapons of the modern woman? The work opens up box-like to reveal "the inner character." In another piece done in the style of an Indian miniature Benjamin portrays a composite creature-a tiger-bodied court beauty whose four paws morph into Mickey Mouse heads-swimming in an Indian river settin o.

Siona Benjamin, Finding Home #29, 1998, goache on pape\ 16" x 22"

Keiko Naka is a figurative painter whose works present riotous send- ups of stereotypical images of great works of Western art. She places herself in the Renaissancecompositions, her image at variance with the traditional ones, Instead of the Japanese ideal of beauty-small, thin. delicate. and modestly clad, the protagonist is boisterous and overweight and dominatesthe scene. Her flesh explodeson the canvas.

KeikoNaka, Supper on Neu/Years Eve, 2001,oil and paint , 76 x 84" TamakoNakanishi, P,ant 4 1998,colored p€ncils, 11" x 8"

This exhibition falls into two divisions. A subgroup of works relates to landscape and the environment. In their themes, delicate colors, forms and patterns, these renderings of the natural world present the procreative aspect-Mother Nature's realm. The paintings, drawings, textiles and ceramic sculpture in Vernal Visions provide a feminine perspective of the external world.

Tamako Nakanishi's drawings of landscapes and studies of leaves, seeds and flowers evoke the stirrings of early spring. In her paired abstract paintings, Jung Hyang Kim celebrates its rhythms, patterns and colors. Kinuko Ueno's textiles delineate its budding trees and creatures in the forest. Garden-like visions are created with tinv leaves covered with clay slip by Keiko Fujita. Lastly, Yuki Moriya has created new worlds and extraterrestrial environments using clay and glass, the materials of nature and industry, that radiate "gleams" of light.

In sum, this exhibition views the works of contemporary Asian women's art and the way in which they exDresstheir ideas about sexual identity, cultural heritage, and the role of women in the modern world.

KinukoUeno, Iree, 1998hemp and batik, This catalogueis dedicatedto zhang Er whosework and friendship have beenimportant to the conceptionof this exhibition.Her poems give voiceto the imagesshown here.

ZHANG ER

Nuchou(Ugly Girl)

Nuchouwas alive, but she was roastedto death by ten suns north of zhangFu. Up on the mountain,she used her right handto shade her face from the ten suns above.

--The Western Lands

Wading in the small stream, you didn't expect your life's great misfortune-- the golden snake turning its slender neck swam toward you, grinning, tattooed your ankle with a kiss. From that moment on, a rose dressed you up prettier than ever, your pupils sparkling like egg-shaped pebbles. Whether or not they could hatch ducks or geese on the river bed later proved related to the multitude or sparseness of thorns between the flowers.

Everyone said you were beautiful at birth, only to be called Ugly. Yet you covered your face, so even we skeptics doubted without particular reason. If you put on a bright colored suit for tomorrow, will you square your shoulders and keep your chin up, rid yourself of self-doubt, and speak the language of the stars? But this is only the beginning; fierce floods and horrible scourges escort us up the stairs, not because we lack modesty or are unable to see through the veils of this world just as your stay up on the mountain, baking and burning, did not forge you into the magic black bird, red dragon or iron phoenix.

You are you, yet more than that, a double identity, brim-full, like the waves on the three ponds; I have thirtv outfits of various kinds and am still as thirsty as ever. Too many surfaces to cover, too few roots to clutch. Indiscreetly walking out of the chamber invites disaster, for example, running into the ten rising suns or driving carefree with drunken eyes on the tree-lined street in moonlight. Our expressionsare too earnest and naive; we can't do the three swings of the hip for each step, tinkling jade pendants on cross-stitched embroidered silk gauze gowns lined with red beads and tassels, agitating desire. Afterward, return to a plaln black dress as to a long marriage, you and he walking hand in hand in the settlng sun. It tastes better with age, like a fairy tale that's born and dies in its own course, and besides, the truth is they have the same opinions.

You still cannot fathom their motives, even though the maddening cycle of drought and violence long ago subsided; the cherished suns have been shot down, one after another, as. under the sun, the Hundred Flower gardens are kept tidy, and otoom. Peopleswarm to amusement parks like schools of fish, can't decide whether to brave the roller coaster or be driven through the haunted forest. The theory of the vast Chinese market economy illuminates all things. I keep level 30 sunblock stuffed in my tiny bathroom. The imagined spotlight has grown faint, is growing more so, only you are so ugly nothing can be compared to you nor shade your face for thousands of years; you will stay as seductive as ever and we will always remember. Is that you under the reading lamp with golden snakes in your ear lobes, a beautiful, smilino soul?

translatedby ZnangEr and SusanM. Schultz Li Hong Decent Rebellion, 2001, painton plasticcurtain, 70" x 70"

LI HONG

The young Beijing painter Li Hong concentrates on portaits of young women. In highly realistic style. all races are delineated. Thev'occul py an urban environment--on the street, by the subway, under a street lamp. Shown in pairs, the girls cling to one another in a hostile environment. Li has created a new type of woman. Often sensuouslv cl-ad, she portrays voluptuous beauties with distincUy Asian or African-Americancharacteristics, their eyes brimming with tears. As Li explains, they are no longer able to cry, having already shed so many tears. Li's drawings are extraordinarily skillful and lyrical.

The images in the show explore a new media: transparent shower curtains which call up images of intimacy in a bathroom. Despite the transparency of the curtain, the figures are ironically tightly bound in a restrictive space. In the company of large golden carp that swim around her, one girl presses her hands up against an imaginary glass wall, as if she was in a fishbowl. In another, huge hothouse orchids overwhelm the space; the girl turns to the right as if to escape. The exotic flowers are rendered with technical brilliance, their delicate feminine forms carefully delineated and vividly colored. In a third composition two girls huddle together in scanty clothes and bare feet suggesting the intimate atmosphere of the home. In the fourth work, restrained and apprehensive, the young girls are naked and share a coat. Commercialwriting flanks them. False promises of cosmetics or drugs guarantee satisfaction and world renown.Thesewomen are not leaving the protected world in which they have been imprisoned. They look out apprehensively at the viewer, beseeching, questioning, but their feet are bare; they are not prepared for the world.

While in Beijing, Li Hong, Cui Xiuwen and two other young women figurative artists formed an artistic group, the Sirens, to show their work. Becauseof the lack of public space available to women artists. they used one of their apartments for exhibitions. According to their artistic manifesto:

The creation of sirens in Greek tales is a typical aesthetic ver- sion of a patriarchal society where women are always described as the combination of apparent angels and inner devils. Under the belief that women are the origin of all crimes, female wisdom and the artistic value of feminist arts have long been denied. It's time for a change. The image of all-powerful man, the pattern in most societies, is bound to be abandoned. Women's voices will be increasingly heard and their natural endowments will benefit DeoDleof both sexes.

The difficulties of women artists in Beijing are evident in these acts. Largely ignored by the artistic establlshment, female artists must join together to support their mutual interests.

Li Hong Decent Rebellion, 2001, paint on plastic curtain, 70" x 70" Xing Fei, Journey: Growing Up, 2002oil on canvas,45"x 27" each Courtesyof the EthanCohen Fine Arts Gallery

XING FEI

Xing Fei has for the most part dedicated her art to the practice of calligraphy and searching for new formats with which to explore the nature of writing. Not interested in the feminine hand, she has explored the writing style of one of the most famous eighth century calligraphers. Her expert calligraphy glides down the vertical columns of the page. But then she cuts the paper into vertical strips and hangs them from the ceiling in a helter-skelter manner. Their mean- ing has been lost, but the graphic qualities of the overlapping and twisting forms are enhanced, In her works Xing has made Chinese characters dance on the page and enter the third dimension. Some are sculptures that recreate in thin wire the linear gymnastics of graphic script so revered in China. But here the loops and turns of the lines that are suspendedfrom the ceiling in long graceful ribbons are no longer legible, Xing has also sought to integrate the female arts of knitting and sewing into the male dominated art of calligraphy. In one work she knit slender sleeves in which she encased the delicate wire sculDtu res. In another she alluded to intimate textiles of the bedroom by scan- ning the calligraphy into the computer, dissecting and rearranging the parts, printing them and mounting them on the wall in an enormous patchwork quilt design.

More recently she has returned to the figurative tradition in which she was trained. Colorful and dynamic, these works reveal the comDlexi- ties of her life and the ancient culture to which she is inextricably tied. The three part work, on canvaswith oil paint, was partly inspired by the events of September 11'.Many of the artists who lived through the Cultural Revolutionmet the chaos of that tragic day with a dread- ed sense of familiarity. In the first canvas she explores Growing Up. On the right is a photograph of Fei as a child painting that was printed in the local newspaper,an image that anticipated her future vocation. Many of the images are taken from her childhood diary that her father found. She describesher work as a woman,s self-discovery, Photographs of the streets of China, passages of text, illustrations from Ming novels,and bits of history are combinedin overlappinglayers.

The second piece. fhe Cultural Revolution, is dedicated to the chaot- ic events of the seventies that upended everyone's life. Here the conformity of the Maoist uniforms worn by men and women alludes to the repressive society in which sexuality, expressions of femininity and human affection were shut off. As Maoist garments shrouded the bodies to achieve conformity, Maoist dictums inhibited freedom of expression, veiling intellectual development.

The third painting is dedicated to fertility. It is a celebration of Giving Life, Fei explores her own procreative cycle as well as the ancient images of fertility goddesses,a cult that has re-emerged in China, in the wake of the dissolution of the Cultural Revolution.She has ohoto- graphs of herself just prior to giving birth embedded in the composi- tion that celebrates, as the pun in the Chinese title reveals, .'giving life" and "life style." The American flag may also be seen in the com- plex composition as testimony to the freedoms that sustain individual expression and procreation.

Xing Fei, Journey: Giving Life, 2002, oif on canvas,45"x 27: Courtesyof Ethan Cohen Fine Arts Gallery Cai )in EananaPlant 48, 2000, oitlon figured sllk, 79" x 76" Courtesyof EthanCohen Fine Arts Gallery

CAI JIN

Cai Jin revels in red. She paints images of banana leaves, withered and dried, which she reinvigorates with red/polychrome pigments. Her reanimated sere vellow leaves soar on canvases that reach wall size proportions. In the rich impasto, crepuscular forms of paint squiggle and turn. and the leaves are host to a kind of visceral move- ment of veins and arteries. Both the rich texture and vibrant color belie the bent broken forms of the stalks and their desiccated leaves. For her,

The huge leaves enclosed the pod of the banana plant, with flesh as red as blood. The original green of the plant was long faded. The shape and color of this withered tree completely transfixed me: it was a strange and inex- pressible sensation. it seemed that inside its trunk and its leaves, the tree was still breathing. Banana trees are omnipresent in Chinese gardens; their broad green leaves represent the yln or female element of the garden-the grow- ing, transient aspect that contrasts with yang-rock and mountain forms that symbolize the eternal and unchanging character of the uni- verse. These trees are also prized for the sound the rain makes as it falls on their broad leaves. In one series Cai used Chinesefigured silk as her canvas, contrasting the luxurious and delicate material associ- ated with women's bedrooms where they spend most of their time, with the huge decaying plant leaves. The works evoke the fragility and transience of physical beauty.

Using red for Cai is one of the premises of her painting. Although earlier Cai used a full palette of colors in her Western style figural studies, she found painting in reds best suited her artistic efforts. The connotations of red are universal. Blood, reproduction, feminin- ity, violence, and internal organs are easily evoked by the hue. In China the character for the word "color" since ancient times also has been associated with danger. Today red commonly symbolizes good luck and happiness. Children are dressed in red; as an auspicious color, it wards off evil influences. Gifts of cash are slipped into crim- son envelopes, and marrlage ceremonial accoutrements are festively red. Of course in Communist China red has other political associa- tions-Mao's red book, the red flag, the red star, the red army. In China promotional writing, whether for merchandising or politicizing, is ubiquitously executed In red script. When asked about the color, Jin reminisces about her father's occupation as a leader of a Beijing Chinese opera troop, wistfully remembering the beautiful costumes and elaborately made-up actors that peopled her youth,

Cai lin's work here has a subsumed narrative of violence and pain, inherent in both the color and in the style of application of the pig- ment. Carefully arranged. the shoes dangle like forms on a mobile. Mutilated by the painting process/ the shoes, seem used and abused. Knowing Cai's experience with the Chineseopera, however, the shoes also allude to the colorful costumes and hiqh drama of her vouth.

Cai 1in Banana124-31 1998,silk shoes and pigment installation,6'x 8; Courtesy of Ethan Cohen Fine Arts Gallery detail Nina Kuo, Wai Po, Grandmother, Nantung China, 1980, colorPhotograph, digital prjnt, wood and glass,10" x 12"

NINA KUO

Nina Kuo who was born in New York is both a photographer and painter. In some of her photos the subjects, dressed in outlandish outfits of her own imaginative design and manufacture, stare directly at the camera, Against a stark background, they resemble a National Geographic spread. The purity of these images has the sanctity of Western studies of aboriginal peoples and the ethnic framing that the Western camera imposed on those foreign populations. In silver prints the luminescent images take on the patina of old photographs. Though modern, the subjects look like they belong to a lost culture. Kuo met her grandmother for the first time when she traveled to China in the 80s. Amazed by her grandmother's broken feet, she made a portrait of her.

In a series of photographs taken in Chinatown, Kuo confronted the ancient Chinese cultural tradition and its disolacement in America. In the group entitled Manchu Pigtail and Mythical Muses, Kuo played the role of the China photographersof the nineteenth century who captured the population of Hong Kong in their lenses. Some of these photos record the arduous process the male Chinese Opera stars undergo to transform themselves into ancient heroines. The question of gender markers and the nature of sexual identification is intriguingly posed,

Fascinatedwith Chinese movies of the 40s and 50s, Kuo incorporated images of them in her work. Cultural ideas of femininity are appar- ent in this early phase of cinema. Western fashions were readily adopted, especially the exotic high heel, bobbed hair and makeup. The most popular garment was the modern, sexy/ slender cut chipao dress that combrned the form-fitting silhouette of the West with Chinese style collar, side slits and decorative embroidery. Kuo has created these dresses. in cotton and silk, sometimes in miniature size. On the dresses she transfers photos from old Chinese movies. In particular they document the new allure of the high heel. In one a barefoot beauty lounges in bed as a servant brings her pumps to her. He also holds a large box of Cheerios, and a carton of Slim Fast is placed near her on the bed. The other scene takes place in a shoe store, women are trying on the new styles; boxes lie open on the floor; on the left an older women holds several packages of Spam; and an electric guitar floats in the mid ground, With these polychrome intrusions of the modern world in the old stills from the movies, the contrast is made between commercial contemporary cul- ture and the bowdlerized world of movie idols of the 50s.

The works in the exhibition highlight the fashionable changes in the ideal of Asian femininity. Kuo's works nostalgically reveal outmoded ideals of beauty. Ephemeralfashions have led women to radically alter their appearance to conform to ideals of beauty that are often inap- propriate, impractical, painful and crippling.

NinaKuo, ltinl Chi Pao NoirShoeless Lady, Hong Kong, 2000, white linendress photo transfer emulsion, 22" x 28" ZHANGER

Nuwa ling Wei (the baby 9i1l Jing Wei) Fu liu Mountain is 200 li farther north. Higher up, the zhe trees are quite plentiful.There is a crow-like bird here with a striped head, white bill, and red feet. It is called Jing Wei. Its call sounds like its name. This is Emperor Yan's daughter, NuWa. NuWa drowned while swimming in the Eastern Sea. That was when she became Jing Wei and carried trees and stones from the western mountains to dam the Eastern Sea. The Zhang River flows east from here. --The Legend of the Northern Mountains

Zhe wooden slippers predate the Christian era. Crimson silk ribbons redden the ankle like the flush of scarlet kisses; you dart back and forth, possessedof exotic origins. NuWa, you're no ordinary girl, for the magnetic field of your rooted bones makes you nomadic; you walk from the south up the western mountain of my backyard: tell me, which side do I climb down?

Go forward, eastward, face the sun. Here everyone drinks too much coffee, is pale. sun-starved. Be cautious: there's a secret deal in mirror-images. photos. And the bay's appetite! Not for stones or branches, but for steel and plastic puzzles. Sail boats, ferries, skulls, steamers, ocean liners (S.S. Thises and Thats), their shop lights, window displays. Behind glass you see tourists with styrofoam lunch boxes in hand. while further east, according to legend, there are shark and shark fin Jinshen soups. Fresh, two for a dollar. Let us share.

Beside the pier, the winery banner seduces us to sit, shoulder to shoulder,while other eyes scatter, multi-angled lenses that fail to mark your fire-red slippers, southern NuWa, nor their ears the eastern sea wind, results posted in the local language like fragrance rushing from a bottle. You wait, patiently, patiently, gracefully lowering your head as if each time your heart broke there were the consolatorv "next time." Only I know your path: It's like the song, "12 Hours a Day." Sweet nostalgia of no longer fashionable music, about a time no longer fashionable, whose ancient principles yet apply, deeo as the eastern sea and this backyard, bitterness unvomited.

My guests' anger baseless. Grandma died without a will despite torrents of last words and piles of ancient towels, prints smudged. difficult to fathom; she phoned my grandpa, recently dead, to chat; the doctor called it "a strange existence." Your cervical cancer caused by poor water, poor diet, an excess of love, the deep pool of your genes? Excess misery and beauty were her company,

"My baby is Nuwa," grandma murmured to herself. Fly, run, swim! Your crimson silk string slippers drown, young heroine, yet the yearbook leaves out your entry. What are collected are as-yet-undefined words. phrases that already trouble us, like "love life." At the party, in fancy dress, we cry for a happy funeral. You see, she was 89; you only 18 or 19.

One should learn from the green Zhe tree on the western mountain, The crow-like bird in the branches died of hatred. The ancient book still contains unparaphraseablewisdom, You hold my two hands in yours. I face the skv blue sea-over there. In the backyard and on the hill, crowds bustle and horses neigh. Hard at work, they dig at the mountain without ceasing, either to dam the eastern sea or build a new legend. They quarrel: so you and I have reason to sit longer. We'll share another mug of wine,

translated by Zhang Er and Susan M. Schultz Mimi Klm, Fet str, 2OOL-2002,processed meat, mixedmedia, 63" x 12" x 18"

MIMI KIM

Mimi Kim was born in Korea and educated in the U.S. She is a painter, sculptor and installation artist whose versatility is readily apparent. Her works have strong themes that question racial ideals and gender stereotypes, In Cross Classificationa plaster cast of a woman crouch- es, her hands grasping her knees; she is seated on top of a large box made of a wooden frame and chicken wire. On the bottom of the cage are dozens of recently hatched eggs and live chicks nestled in straw. Light emerges from the straw to illuminate the figure. especially her lower body. The figure has a closed-eye dreamy expression, as if she is hatching the eggs so far beneath her. The distinctions between human reproduction and the commercial industry of supplying eggs and chickens are provocatively compared. Kim highlights the indus- trial attitude towards chickens, and by placing the woman in the chickencoop, human reproductionis shown as analogousto animal husbandrv.

SafeHandling Instructions is a chart of femaleAsian body types. The naked white figures, drawn with delicatelines, are set up in a line from early childhoodto old age, like a scientificchart. Acrossthe pubic area is a red USDAseal of approval.Instructions as to proper usageare writtenin the upperleft, as if the femaleswere meat. The paintingillustrates how sexualidentity is importantfrom the cradleto the grave. It asks, what is average,what is normal, what are the characteristicsof race and gender?ln MythsDebunked on Nutritional Fact, Kim addressesthe questionableold wives tale that sperm is nutritional.The paintingls a chart that presentsthe chemicalbreak- down of the componentsof sperm,exposing the fallacyof suchmyths as well as the overt manipulationof womenin a patriarchicsociety by meansof misinformation. Recentpieces revolve around the materialof processedmeat, Here Mimi has fashioneditems of women's lingerie and a pair of high- heeledboots. By combiningprocessed meat and woman'slingerie Mimi showshow women have been marginalizedand reducedto sex- ual objects. Mimi'spieces highlight the elementsof our respective culturesthat cast women in the light of a commodity,denying them individuality,intelligence, spirituality or creativity.

Mfmi Kim, Myths Debunkedon Nutritional Fact, 1999, oil on canvas,72" x 48" Betty YaQinC|l'ou Migration, 2000,wax mouldof feet floor space508 sq. feet with walltime line detail

BETTYYAQIN CHOU

Betty YaQin Chou using a combination of types of wax-flex, bee and candle, cast hundreds of pairs of her own feet. a process that is laboriousand physically uncomfortable. The paired feet are arranged in an intriguing geometrical configuration based on five circles and the figure eight. A closed form, the composition reverberates with centripetal force. The mandala-like pattern of five concentrically arranged circles, which appears frequently in her art, represents the continuous process of history, without beginning or end. Written in a mixture of Spanish and English, a dateline begins with Columbus' discovery of the Americas. The time line traces a number of moments in the difficult political and social lives of her forebears-Chinese immigrants who traveled from Canton in 1806 and arrived in the Caribbeanto form the first Chinese communitv in Trinidad.

When chou recently returned to the rural town of ToishanGuangzhou, the ancient Canton where she was born, she was disappointedto find no record of her ancestors. In this chronological context, the feet are a metaphor for the many tens of thousands of steps her ancestors took and the continuous passage of time from one generation to another that comprises her genealogy. Betty using her body makes the paired wax feet a multivalent symbol of time passed, distance traveled, and genetic relationships. The image is a most personal one, not only replicating her own form, but alluding to her parent's body, those of her forebears, and the genetic links of the family tree. The feet are an icon of her heritage through which she hopes to understand the forces that brought her to this place.

Chou's work is based on her corporeal self and the themes of migra- tion and immigration. In another work, Chou tied wooden sticks cut into uniform size (around .5" in width and 3" long) together at on e end with red string and arranged them in five concentric circles. This was her responseto being extremely ill: the red string alluded to the vials of blood transfusions she required. Unable to work, she felt fenced in by sickness, imprisoned by the body's frailty.

In another work she made small red oval pillows shaped like blood cells and secured them to the ceiling. On them small-scale images of her family were transferred by means of photocopying. Family photos were also silk screened onto a work comprising a tent made of mos- quito net suspended from the ceiling. The gauzy tent is redolent of the hot Caribbeannights.

Chou'swork, basedon her own body, reflectsher concernswith family histo- ry and genetics.Though reminiscent of the past, her visuallanguage is con- temporary. Beautifullyexecuted and highly modern in aesthetic,these images presentthe rich historyof Chineseculture in the new world.

Betty YaQinChou Migration, 2000, wax mouldof feet floor space508 sq. feet with wall time line Il Sun Hong Raindrops, 1€f98,Korean traditional paper, 38" x 72" x 4"

IL SUN HONG

Il Sun Hong is a sculptor who often works with traditional Korean paper. Many of her works are based on the image of shoes. She says that at first she was attracted by the beautiful shape and curved lines of shoes. Traditional Korean women's shoes are most attractive in their curved line and shape. But shoes came to have symbolic mean- lno for her.

Women's shoes are themselves; Asian shoes represent Asian people. Each shoe in my work functions as a tool, like a brush in paintings.

The high-heel pump is an urban image symbolizing the anonymity of industrial society; whereas the Korean shoe is more emotional and reminiscent of village life. Hong shapes the shoes. varying the color, both of the lining and exterior surface, and cuts them into parts. Grouping the components, she arranges them in eye-catch- ing patterns. Limited in hue and number, the forms are presented in a pristine minimalist installation. But her works present several con- tradictions. There is a visual contrast between the imoeccable presentation and the slightly irregular hand-made quality of the forms. The pieces are vivid in their tonalities, and thouqh banal in subject, take on a precious quality, resembling colored stones in a jeweled setting. Though sculpted, the images mounted in shallow plexi-glass wall boxes, have a bas-relief quality that give the initial impression of being a flat design.

Some of Hong's works are infused with narrative content suggested by their titles. Linear arrangements of the heels recall the imperson- al images of assembly-line production or the mindless procession of Commuting. Hong expla ins, The shoes are old, worn out and rubbed off reflecting how people get tired from the everyday monotonous rou- tine. Thb shbes are plain, neither'lux[trious nor new. All are Dointed in the same direction too tired to dissent. In Solitary, a lone red shoe is pointed in a direction away from the parade of black shoes. Korean flat shoes, in contrast, are more irregular in contour. Such forms evoke the agrarian society of tradi- tional Korea. The glamorous city life is contrasted with that of the countryside; sex is contrasted with work.

Color is a key concern. Each color has a particular meaning. In one work a row of black and white shoes faces a row of red and green ones. Monastic colors are juxtaposed with typical bridal colors; sofemnity confronts conjugal joy. In the Crowd mud colored native shoes are tightly arranged in a hectic pattern suggesting the dirt and congestion of unpaved vlllage roads. In Waterdrops, Hong explains, The colors are brilliant and clear as rainwater. Each shoe is individu- ally shaped. This work reflects the optimism of spring.

Hong makes objects other than shoes out of paper. In Rhyfhm she recreated the multi-color clubs traditionally used by Korean women to fill the cloth for bedding. Nostalgically. she recalled the seasonal activity of rhythmic beating of the cloth in an installation of the rain- bow-hued clubs. Using the language of contemporary art, Hong builds a bridge to the traditional Korean images. She keeps the past alive by transforminq it into modern art. }:.i\ df,\ JJ Il Sun Hong,so/itary, 2000, paperand mixedmedia, 38" x 9" x 3" Keiko Naka, Supper on New Year'sEve, 2000, oil on canvas76" x 84" Courtesyof Castlron Gallery

KEIKO NAKA

The women in Keiko Naka's paintings challengethe ideals of Japanese womanhood-youthful, slender, nubile girls. Seeking to portray the reality rather than the ideal, she often uses herself as a model.

I find the woman with a broken arm, the woman who drops the glass;and the fat woman who can't zip her wedding-dress, How colorful, cheerful and melancholic they are! As Naka says, I would like to praise the force of life.

Naka uses Western old master compositions and figural types. In the large canvas of 1995, Michelangelois a Woman, the artist is a large, corpulent, scantily clad woman, teetering on a tight rope wire. Exuberantly she raises her arm over her head and calls out in what seems t0 be a victory cheer. Her brush poised to paint, she looks inspiringly upwards, painting materials spilling out of her hands. Classical themes also appear. The three goddesses in the choice of Paris, are pregnant forms; reeling backward in exaggerated fore- shortening, they play catch with the apple that led to the downfall of Troy.

Naka's canvasescelebrate a new kind of uninhibited woman. The jovi- ality of Bride, Kampai (a toast meaning bottom's up) betrays the solemnity of a tradition that restricts women's lives to the household. The wedding ceremony in Japan has become an extravagant series of ceremonies,native and Christian/ replete with changes of clothes that can bankrupt the felicitous families. Here a robust beer-swilling bride stands at the center of a multlpartite composition crowded with a swirling mass of multiracial celebrants from all walks of life.

In Supper on New Year's Eve, a large-scale,nearly naked, voluptuous blond sits at a table filled with Jaoanesedelicacies. Oblivious to those around her, unlike self-consciousJapanese women, she enthusiasti- cally revels, causing holiday foods to tumble and a celebrant to top- ple over. This raucous celebration is far from the solemn rites of New Years, when bills and debts are settled, the home is meticulously cleaned, and the meals are served cold, in preparation for the oncom- ing year. The artist has placed her "new Japanese woman" in an Okinawa bar singing and playing the lapanese guitar. In the fore- ground are the backup African-American singers and an electric organist. Figures tumble and fall away in the background. Okinawa, best known as the contentious site of the American occupation army, it is an enclave of Western values in the heart of Jaoan.

Naka masterfully combines the Western artistic tradition's foreshort- ened drawing of figures, deep space, animated postures and thick application of pigment with the Japanesepalette of muted colors. She flouts Japanese conventions showing naked fleshy women enjoying themselves. Her paintings celebrate the cultural liberation of women.

Keiko Naka, Eveningin Okinawa, 2001, oil on canvas64" x 76" Courtesy of the Cast lron Gallery Siona Benjamin, Spicy Girl Series:Allrounders Techniques of Ecstasy, 1998,mixed media, 8" x 9" x 2,5" shownopen

SIONA BENJAMIN

Siona Benjamin uses the artistic vocabulary of Indian miniatures and upgrades them for the twenty-first century. Her works focus on issues of feminine identification, both divine and mortal. Siona recre- ates Durga. Hindu goddess of destruction, in terms of contemporary culture. In Spicy Girl, the blue-skinned goddess with tongue sticking out, now represents the Indian emigre living in America; the hands, which once held the weapons of the gods, now wield kitchen utensils, a spade, an iron and tennis racket. She walks in high-heels. Open the box and you find the ancient female fertility symbols of the womb, the yoni and yantra, Benjamin explains,

The multi-armed females-this ancient svmbol of stre,ngth.had been reproduced through the ages again ano aoatn. I now recreate ner as a svmDot ot a woman todav- capable of Derforminq manv roles, Still manv armeld and headed, she now holds objects and speak's manv ancient and modern tonQues. In Finding Home Series #29, a young beauty painted in the style of an Indian miniature has a tiger's body, a tail that ends in an electric plug, and paws that terminate in Mickey Mouse heads. She is swim- ming in the river, and on the far shore low rolling hills are painted in the style of Pahari miniatures, a nuclear explosion erupts, and Hebrew characters blaze in flames. The work is colorful and precise, recalling the delicate Indian miniatures of the eighteenth century. Benjamin is a world citizen, who while seeking to forge a new identity, does not reject her rich religious and cultural traditions.

Thus I create a dialogue between the ancient and the con- temporary forging a confrontation with unresolved issues. This is expressedeven in my choice of materials and techniques, for a literal mixing of the old and new-an exciting and energizing Drocess,. , .I transform and mutate the old and the new until I forge a different identity-my own identity-a hybrid.

In Finding Home Series #40, the avatar of Vishnu, Krishna is painted in the traditional way, but as a woman, In a landscape defined by leafy and flowering trees, and a background of red, which traditional- ly symbolized passion, the blue skinned goddess sings into a micro- phone, the Hebrew lyrics written above her, the amplifier is in the mid-ground to the left. In her other hands she holds a glass of red wine, a Star of David, a spade. In the orthodox manner the goddess is seated on a white lotus flower emerging from the cosmic waters, A green skinned monster tries to cut the lotus stem of her throne. Here Benjamin has completely assimilated the ancient vocabulary of devo- tional miniatures, and the gods, once omnipotent, have acquired new capabilities.Benjamin has forged a style that encompassesher Jewish faith, her Indian cultural heritage and lifestyle in the U.S.

Siona Benjamin, Spicy Girl Series: Allrounders Techniques of Ecstasy, 1998,mixed media,8" x 9" x 2.5" shown closed Cui Xiuwen, ln Roseand Peppermintin the Waten No. 10, 1996,oil on canvas,7o"x 40"

CUI XIUWEN

Cui Xiuwen, along with Li Hong, is a founding member of the Sirens. These distinctly feminist painters in Beijing have a strong commit- ment not only to art produced by women but also to the condition of women in general. Cui's stance is evident in her paintings from the late nineties, a numbered series of oils on canvas entitled Rose and Peppermint in the Water. A chalk-white, naked male figure occupies the center of the compositions. Facing the viewer, he is seated with his legs widely spread exposing his genitals. In Rose and Peppermint in the Water, No. 10 he looks off into the distance, seemingly unaware of the female figure in the foreground. With her back to the viewer, she kneels forward to examine him. The female, wearing a short white dress, is an artist; her brushes and painting materials are piled on the left. In No.9, the naked male covers his eyes with his hands. As in No. 10, the female who is dressed and in rear view, leans forward, her purpose is not evident. There is no interaction between the figures The male is passive and emphatically does not relate to the female-he gazes off into the distance or covers his eyes. The female leans aggressively in to examine him. Among the props of the mid-ground surrounding the male are symbolic images-a small sports car, the golden arch logo of McDonalds, their inclusion is a commentary on the commercialization of Beijing and the new "Western" lifestyle. The figures are drawn in a semi-abstract manner, with the anatomical forms blocked out by the application of large areas of light and color rather than descriptive drawing. Chalky whites, grays and muddy greens dominate the palette and are thick- ly applied. The mood is somber

Cui most recently has directed her critical gaze to the contemporary situation by placing a hidden camera in a dance club in Beijing. Over a period of hours young women come and go, adjusting their brassieres, their make up, their hair. Some change their garments preparing for the night by donning sexier and more revealing outfits. Late in the video the female bathroom attendant appears, sheepishly doing her chores. Her physical plainness and unobtrusive behavior is a foil for the exotic plumage of the girls, their nervous administrations to their appearanceand strident voices. It is only in the last minutes of the video that it is apparent that some of these girls are for hire. In shrill tones they discuss their dates and count their money. This is a very telling tale of the reemergence of such sexual activities such as "escort" services in modern China, in the wake of Communist con- trol of "vice and lewd behavior."

Cui Xiuwen, Lad,?t 2000, video SUKANYA RAHMAN

Sukanya Rahman who was born in Calcutta was a classical Indian dancer before she turned to art. Most of her works are relatively small boxes filled with images from Western and Indian media. Rahman arranges the pictures and paints over them. Among the visuals she appropriates are those from the Indian cinema. both recent and vin- tage stills, as well as from Hollywood. Glamorous movie stars fea- tured in "Bollywood/Mumbai" fanzines, Hollywood publicity images, cartoons and Hindu religious posters ironically share the stage. Indeed the work often looks like a movie marouis or Doster.Added to this are commercial beauty products. All seem united by their brilliant colors, eye-catching designs, and the shared intent of persuading the viewer of their appeal. The figurative images are set against an architectural view of a city or against abstract designs. ln Matrimonial # 3 a Bollywood beauty is featured at center, she smiles alluringly, with her sumptuous jewels and deep decollete. At the bottom are a number of beauty products that promise whitened skin. Near the center is a bra and panties; luscious red lips float to the right. In the lower right is an Indian goddess in silks and jewels. Emerging from the corner is a leg in fishnet stocking and gold high heel sandals. An exotic flower and brilliant parrot frame the upper left of the composition. Floating near the center is a piece of a Persian manuscript with figures in court dress. shown upside down. The muted tonality of the miniature is a foil for the brilliant day glow col- ors of the rest of the collage. An eye from a partial view of a face, stares out intently, as if from a peephole. Also at center is a matrimonialad, describingthe idealbride.

The juxtapositionof the iconsof beauty-whetherfrom the world of the cinema,gorgeous goddesses, sexy body parts, and beautyprod- ucts is not unlikethe bombardmentby the media in their efforts to "enhance"one's life. These unlikely combinations,drawn from the popularculture of India and the U.S.,are characteristicof the kind of confusionthat existsin the contemporaryworld, where old valuesof proprietyand self-confidencein one'scharacter are replacedby the desireto be attractiveat whatevercost. What is femininity?Is it just the trappingsof beautysold in the magazines?Will this reallywhiten the skin? Is that desirable?Rahman's collages seek to expressthe complex and often contradictorynotions of womanhoodand the contrastingvalues of glamourand spirituality,vice and virtue, East and West.

Sukanya Rahman,Matrimonial #3-Dowry, 2001, mixed media,12" x 10" VICTORIA YANG

Victoria Yang is a self-taught artist. She is a renaissancewoman who is active in the world of business in Shanghai. In contrast to her dynamic presence in the professional world, her paintings suggest a rustic repose. These are largely interior views of small Western style rooms filled with rugged country furniture, large wooden pieces, and encrustations of paint on the walls. Her technique relies on a thick application of paint that leaves a visceral presence on the surface of the canvas. In Western style, the works are filled with light and the source of the light is identifiable, brilliantly illuminating the interiors. Sometimes vivid floral patterns enliven the walls. These are quiet rooms that are empty but inviting with comfortable chairs. Yang has also done figural works, but these are less distinct than the interiors, the figures are sketchily done. Sometimes the style is extremely real- istic, other times a more expressionistictechnique is used, with heavy application of paint and abstract arrangement of color.

She has written a Doem that best exDlains her ideas:

I finally am home from the Iong journey Having brought back a whole net of love To dry my saturated heart in the sun TomorrowI will again go back to the sea.

The paintingin the exhibitionfalls within the categoryof abstract works, it is a decidedlyvoluptuous female form. The blue hourglass shapethat dominatesthe pictureplane clearly alludes to the female torso, and the delicatestar like patternsof yellowrecall the intricate feminineorna ments.

I paint through the silent night and try to catch in my paintings the beautiful visions that fade away in the twinkling of an eye.

Victoria Yang, Blue Dreaming, 1999, acrylic on canvas,2ztl" x 29" VERNALVISIONS

JUNG HYANG KIM

Jung Hyang Kim's large-scale works comprise paired canvases-one a complex geometric design; the other a delicate lyrical floral motif. The floral designs recall the Buddhist imagery of her youth-lotus flowers, plum blossoms, and the intricate textile patterns of tradi- tional Korean weaving. Kim's paintlngs seem to embody the tradition- al Asian mysticism of yin and yang: the opposition of female/male, shadow/sun, water/stone. and permanent/ ephemeral. Like man- dalas, Buddhist diagrams of the cosmos, they are composed of geometric patterns, used in pairs, to represent the diamond (the eternal-unchanging) and womb mandala, (ephemeral-growing aspects of the universe). United by the color scheme. the panels con- trast geometrical and floral, infinite space and surface design, hard edges and soft. Kim's technique varies from etched designs with the point of the brush, layered veils of color. calligraphic lines, or rich impasto of pigme nt.

In Petals and Thorns of 1996, deep blue, purple and green create a dense, loosely plaid overall pattern on the left piece; the lighter colors being on the top level suggest looking up at a deep dark blue twilight sky or floating on a deep sea. The mood is truly indigo. On the blue ground, beautifully drawn bright red paint recreates the out- lines of tulips in a number of views in Asian style-full, profile. upside down, newly opened, fully opened. The painted lines of the floral forms, vibrant against the velvety dark background, grow thicker and thinner, rounded and sharp edged, like Asian calligraphy.The canvas- es are like a telescopic and a microscopic view: the infinite space of the heavens, and the micro-cellular structures of nature. ln Memory of Seeds, pastel spring colors unite the canvases.On the left beneath the pink background are disks painted in muted tones of blue, gray, mauve and rose pink. On the right a multi-layered blue background supports delicate drawings of fragile flowers in a blue outline. Bursts of seeds and spores explode in hues of blue, gray, mauve and rose. It is as if these seed bursts are viewed under the microscopein the left side of the picture.

Kim puts these seemingly disparate elements together as a challenge to the viewer, like an unanswerableZen koan, Kim sees her work as playful, as an artistic goal with antecedents in the "playing with the brush" by ancient Asian literati. to express deeper hidden spiritual truths. Kim plays word games with her titles, wittily challenging the viewer to consider the verbal/visual connection.

Jung Hyang Kim, Memoriesof Seeds-Spring, 2001 oil on canvas,two panels60" x80" (60 x 40 eachpanel) belowdetail KINUKO UENO

Kinuko Ueno, who lives in Osaka, uses a traditional medium, batik, for her installations. Ueno recreates pastoral views of nature and mytho- logical themes drawn from Japanesefolklore. Categorically,brilliant- ly colored designs-fuchsia, red, cadmium yellow and sky blue domi- nate her renderings of natural forms. Ueno is basically self-taught. Her compositions are ever more ambitious and comDlex wax resist dyed textiles. A sense of independenceseems to fill the characters in her textile narratives with a joyful exuberance. But drawn from quo- tidian life, sinister details reveal that these are very realistic dramas.

In one narrative textile. In the Forest 1995, a leafy tree occupiesthe left side of the composition. its trunk etched in white line through the wax resist method against a background of forest green. A snake slithers up the left side of the tree, the birds flock in mid air; nestled under the tree are a dog and cat. The sense of life imparted to each of the elements of the composition is remarkable, and each critter seems to have its own characteristic pose. Seated on its haunches, the dog looks out at the viewer, while a large brown animal at center sticks his red tongue voraciously out at a mouse that skitters by. At the second that it emerges, a cat in the mid ground lifts its head and turns its face towards it. In the foreground is a pair of frogs looking out at the viewer and two large red flowers. The composition is a dynamically arranged series of vertical and horizontal forms. A sense of life and character are imDarted to each of the animals and there is the feeling that one is witnessing a dramatic moment in the forest. Looking at her designs one can appreciate Kinuko's experience as an actor and dancer, In 1985 she became a member of the theatrical company Taihen, (meaning extremely difficult) which consisted of only handicapped participants. After that she became a member of the Cosmic Dance Company.

In anotherwork Uenocreated a large I foot tall bright red circular tent that hangsfrom the ceilingof the gallery.Romping around the peripheryof the tent are a number of mythologicalcreatures like dragonsand other animalsin seeminglyhappy pursuit of eachother. Uenodescribes her tent as a privatespace, a placein which to med- itate, or to have a ceremony.

In Trees,consisting of three panelsthe form is etchedin the resist wax techniqueagainst a backgroundof mottled colors-reds, blues and green. The slim, boughlesstree gives birth to numeroussmall flowers, promisinghope and renewal.In the secondpanel a joyful bird swoopsdown on the tree, and new plants spring up from the grass.In the last panel,the tree explodeswith the luxuriantblossoms of deep summer.Veils of colorsin the backgroundare skillfullydis- tributedto createa senseof foregroundand background.

Kinuko Ueno, Irees, 1998,hemp and batik,each Courtesyof the Castlron Gallery Yuki Moriya,G/eam, 2001, glassand clay,40" x 20" x 40"

YUKI MORIYA Yuki Moriya is a ceramic artist who lives in Kyoto. Her early works recreated astral forms and cosmic cities. A series of skyscraper groupings, made on the pottery wheel, are roughly finished and pierced with rows of misshapen windows. Each tower of Cosmic City is different in size, width, height, number of windows and shape. Delicately hued glazes-cream, white, taupe and gray, allude to the great pottery tradition of lapan. Light bulbs, located inside the tow- ers, animate the structure. Grouping the ephemeral lighted towers, Moriya imparts a spiritual quality to the pieces that belies the sim- plicity and sometimes awkwardness of the forms. It is a man made city, not a machine-made one-perfect lines and symmetries are avoided. Moriya expresses her artistic goal: To create a different kind of space, to create an extraordinary environment from which to view the unknown world. I4oriya longs to recreate the city in large scale. Clay Orbit of Stars comprises huge hoops of wire, covered in narrow clay cylindrical forms, reaching from the ceiling, around 8 feet tall, to nearly the floor. The hoops are placed one inside another and intersect only at the place they are attached to the ceiling, moving in and out of each other. Covering the coils of wire are clay segments measuring 2 inch- es long and around one quarter of an inch in diameter. Glazed white, the clay cylinders are delicately painted with short brown lines and circles. The linear Dattern alludes to the ancient manner in which the lapanese indicated the stars and constellations on bronze, ceramic and painted surfaces. The circles render the celestial orbs, while the lines suggest the connections between the groups of stars that form constellations. Moriya explains her wire hoops covered with narrow ceramic tubes are intended to reDresent the orbits of astral bodies. One feels like a visitor to a miniature world. Given the proper spatial context, this is a cosmic view. Given an imaginative leap, one is transported to a realm of sclence fiction, watching the movement of the stars. It is a very poetic and spiritual image with which its hand- made style ironically contrasts.

In this piece, Gleam, Yuki recreates the night sky in her dark blue glass discs. Heavily framed by black clay, the circular forms are illu- minated from beneath. In concert with her earlier work in which astral themes dominated, these ceramic pieces resemble the stars of the constellations. Where previously simple lines indicated the celestial bodies, here they have become palpable three-dimensionalforms that reflect light. Smaller jewel-like, light green disc shapes similarly encased in black clay suggest the secondary chain of astral groups of the 14ilkyWay.

YukiMoriya, Cosmic Cit,', 1998,clay, glaze and lights,each around 36" high n

W:' Keiko Fujita, Walking on the Leaves, 2001, leaves, clay, glaze, sand, stones, seeds

KEIKO FUJITA

Keiko Fujita from Aichi has made a series of works based on the egg shape. In one installation several dozen casts of white egg snapei were nestled in a large plaster plate measuring around 30,,in diame_ ter. The shapes, neatly divided into two are filled with several strands of dried straw, reassembled, and tied with straw into a loopy Iarge bow. Fujita maintains that these are not eggs; she rejects that sym- bolism, avowing that she just likes the shape. But the forms, natural in scale and a pristine unglazed white color, are nearlV imDossibleto not consider as eggs. Fujita distributed the ovals to viewers in the Cast Iron Gallery in New york City in the Fall of 1999. Sixty to seven- ty eg9s were given away to visitors. Describing this project she has an air of pure satisfaction, contemplating the varled circumstance in which her sculptures will be placed.

A second work is larger in scale, these ceramic ovals, 5,,-6,, long, resemble ostrich eggs. Made from clay moulds, the ovals were filled with leaves covered with clay slip, sealed, and baked. In the process of baking some of the forms burned lightly brown; the scorch marks are natural, irregular and appear different in placement and hue on each of the pieces. Near the brownish coloration on the surface of the oval. a small section is broken away and the crumbling slip covered leaves are visible. Peeking through the openings, the leaves are extremely fragile. Some ovals are unbroken. The egg allusion is stronger here, for the broken shells immediately recall the hatching process. and the whole ones suggest imminent birth. Fujita has also included a small basket with gray and green slips of paper-one in English. the other in lapanese, on which is written the following mes-

Once the method of correspondencebetween people was the back of leaves. For communication Now I send my eternal soul never die in obscurity to you. And, I will wait the day When this fragment returns to the warm clay in your heart earth again.

In a more recent work from 2001, Fujita created a prlstine zen gar- den in miniature. Small delicate leaves ranging from one to one and half inches were covered in clay slip, some were glazed, some had a matte finish. The leaves were arranged in patterns around small white tones. The effect was like that of a huge untimely snowstorm-the felled spring leaves lay in pools and eddies around the rocks.

Here in a multi-partite installation, natural materials are encased in acrylic, framed and displayed as if in a museum of natural history. Finely ground earth-colored powders are used as a mat for her slip- coated leaves, seeds, and stones. Creamy white and earth tones dominate the piece, which seems to be an attempt to understand the mystery of germ ination.

For Fujita, time spent, rebirth, and the cycle of life are important themes. She reaches out to the viewer to engage them. She is writ- ing to them on clay baked leaves.

KeikoFujita, Walkingon the Leaves, 2001, leaves,clay, glaze, sand, stones, seeds,detail Tamako Nakanishi, Sush 1998, colored pencils on papei II" x 7"

TAMAKO NAKANISHI

Tamako Nakanishi, who lives in Osaka, is a very accomplishedpoet in both Japanese and English. A self-taught artist, she makes drawings with colored pencils of the natural world. Her works are truly remark- able in their meticulous technique. Each work is made uo of tinv lines that adhere. like magnetic filings, to create dynamic visual patterns. The lines relate to each other with a palpable cohesion.

Nakanishi'sfocus can be directed to the grand landscapeswith visions of distant rolling hills and heavy voluminous clouds. Other works are intricate views of natural forms rendered in fine detail, Tiny vegetal structures, leaves and seed pods are all examined with an objective eye and delineated with an exactitude that resembles biological studies. Their visual forms have a delicate beautv. The lines in the drawings of seeds, leaves and flowers are so dynamic Tamako Nakanishi, Mountain Swaying with Lights, 1991, colored pencils on papea 753t4"x12"

they convey the generative energy of nature. Nakanishi's leafy ten- drils evoke early spring growth, testing its roots under the soil. This is not a portrait of late spring exploding with flowers and the raucous songs of birds. It portrays the Asian concept of early spring, when underground seedlings undulate, searching the earth for nutrients and maturing long before they break through the surface of the soil. Nakanishi's drawings embody the ql or energy of living things. She writes in a Doem:

This world forms a massive whirlpool Every seed in the world presses some plans of its green life and memorv about climate into its black stiff husks Every seed whiling itself, is also being whirled by something Seeds always spring out as if they were spirits Seeds catch seasonal rhyth ms the earth that is rotating and revolving, seeds, leaving behind their sense and feeling on the ground rush out and float about like hollow souls. ZHANGER

The Autumn of Gu Yao GuYaoMountain is 200 li farther east. This is where a princess named NuShi died and became the yao grass. Its leaves grow thick- ly, its flowers are yellow, and the fruits are like those of an herbal medicine'whoever ttooYtt'u,?" "utl-lX"#n'ot centrar Mountains

On the second day the leaves made up their minds to change color. A breaking point, since taking this step means there's no turning back. The sky fills with wing beats as the wind grows colder and the time for hesitation dissolves. The shift from red to vellow to in-between shades demands courage and zealous work: it requires the right tem- peratures, sunllght, moisture, photosynthesis, elimination of some things and addition of others. The new synthesis requires fresh mol- ecules. An active procedure always. Anxiety that's caused by antic- ipation of the final stage weaves a wide web, like alr trembling betweenthe leaves;it's hard to tell what the beginningis, where the end.

It's not that there is no other choice, as if it were possible not to change color, not to give up hope or happiness, to await winter's onslaught quietly, not to be made desperate. inconsolableby time or memory and then to die with the leaves, the branches, the roots, a bleached barrenness. The question is whether we have existed at all, There are, as well, the self-imposed disasters, the sores and in festations, refusals of treatment that leave behind scars, deaths so brutal they can't be faced

You can also set up a reading desk, build a wooden house on the slope, mimic the private studies of respected teachers, wise men of the past, plant fragrant thoroughwort beside the house, pomegran- ates, figs, or let nature choose the fruits and flowers and then listen to the forest, the stones, flowers and grasses, feeling the pulse, the high and low tides of the body's fluids. After abolishing parties and pleasures, fame and status, there will be another place-what is writ- ten wlll stand up in the world dimensional, as you stroll toward the intersection, not giving up but knowing that the circle yields no new design or color. Turn left-no. right!-the surface disturbed as by a stone thrown from nowhere; you need patience and skill to paddle in the current, revising the route as you go, even changing destination- so long as we cannot live like poetry's green vine, we must give up grasping until the bitter end. We can't linger. have to move on, must change ouT colo rs. Leaving the house, I walk into your shade, traveling between your upraised arms, though I can't walk in your world no matter how much I invest in it, how crafty I manage to become. For what I gain in walking toward you is also my loss. I can master neither you nor myself in this place. My self is clothed: I put on a business suit, a sweatsuit, a hunting outfit, jeans, even an evening dress that floats to the ground, or a silk embroidered nightgown. Body and soul's cover-up. Dressed fashionably, the self smiles from morning until night. increasingly loved and respected. Yet attention grows geomet- ricallv: there is too much to catch! Who can match our skill, our patience, the hundreds of thousands of pages from a single mold? Just look at these trees, the huge and the small ones, bright and dark; their every gesture shifts, alters, adjusts; every leaf different from its fellows. This autumn day, the shade is still thick with them. Under the soil's shadows, roots deep and shallow hidden from view, what stories of ancient orioins lie tethered in this shadowed soil?..

Even strolling disingenuously on this forest path, you might take a wrong step, cross a forbidden border. "There will be no future if you fail to take the risk." Thus spake the adventure capital investor, infused with our era's truest wisdom. And what shall be our risk, then? Being gunned down or killed in an accident, starving to death, being poor, accomplishing nothing? Death is always the end. "When the head is cut off, only a scar the size of a rice bowl remains." Yet knowing the story's end can't relieve us of our anxieties; we are still agitated, still sense the hurdle that can't be crossed. "The worst offense is having no offspring," says Confucius. This may be the best remedy against our mortal anxiety. "Having offspring" means main- taining our thought lineage; we leap over the barrier between gods and ourselves; either lying in bed or raising one's pen, hurdles are overcome. "Having offspring": doesn't this wisdom lead to overpop- ulation? is it not the freedom from having children that perfects our character,fulfilling the five virtues of a Chinesegentleman, that he be genteel, honest, respectful, moderate and forbearing? We endure like that oak on the hill whose yellow leaves are falling, as it negotiates changes of climate. the impoverishedsoil, the deep water and scorch- ing fire, the planting and the logging. We take it and take it again, swallowing insults until driven beyond our limits. Then we cut the neck that connects mind and body; we strip flesh from soul. Everyone gets what they deserve, after all. Unbalanced,we are given only that one-time connective, that talisman.

A crunch under foot, a squashed acorn, a squirrel with shining fur startling, leaping from branch to branch. At the tree's top, an azure tile, and then the sun. There are so many ways to distract ourselves. We aren't able to find the proper feeling, yet can't bear to watch the TV's poor diet of starving kids in Africa, flies alighting on thelr Iips- but we can cross the street to the Italian restaurant to eat angel hair pasta with red clam sauce. We refuse to turn our heads to see the old man with one leg in his wheelchair by the bridge; the radio plays a Vienna waltz, and tonight I may write a poem for my grandmother who more thoroughly abandoned the light. Only intelligence separates the soul from the flesh, doesn't go to extremes.

For now and out of habit I walk to the right, following the slowly descending path, which passesa quiet marsh filled with purple duck- weed and green algae floating there with the scarlet sun burning overhead. The straight route would take me by a garbage can, set up to keep the street clean, its bottles and plastic bags a broken aureole near the skittering of mice and rats. Returning to nature is never easy; we arrive at the opposite to our designs. There is no space in which to think clear thoughts. But I will escape the can, lean against a tree beside the marsh, be one with the dancing flames of the sun on blades of grass, the foliage.

The falling leaves are deaths of design, yet they descendgracefully as if to demonstrate their deliberate certainty, an answer. or to broad- cast a truth no one cares to hear, Is this our final yao grass? Whoever eats of it is seductive. Perhapsa willing sacrifice? And for whom? The leaves are red, the trees unbending, the water a calm mirror- the page.

translated by Zhang Er and Susan M. Schultz