Tomie Arai is a public artist who is interested in site specific works. Her pieces work toward engaging the public to see the connection between community and culture. Arai is a third generation Japanese American and her work often addresses social issues surrounding race, gender, culture, and class. Using her own family history and narrative, she pushes for an understanding of cultural equality with her work. By constructing this collective narrative, Arai examines the relationships between culture, memory, history and art and what we call our community and home. Architectural and sculptural as well as self-sufficient objects, Tomie Arai’s There to Here, Here to There are emigrants from a land of giant lanterns and standings screens. Arai began by stretching cheesecloth over a collapsible frame to create 3-dimensional paper forms. Abaca sheets were then laminated over the cheesecloth and a photosilkscreen watermark was applied to each form. Once dry, they were removed from the frame and illuminated from within.
Tomie Arai Lives and works in New York City.
Workspace Program artist-in-residence 1991
