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Ruptures (2013)

Propelled by the perception of an unrelenting reconfiguration of surface as the earth travels through and beyond a forty-five billion year-old odyssey of cataclysmic events, I explore the notion of loss as a continual evolution of one's identity.

Perceiving loss (as well as separation and death) much like an earthquake, it is the emotional murmurs and rumblings from within us and the resulting fissures and chasms that appear on the surface, which I draw from. Through the layering of the ensuing scars of experience, we constantly redefine ourselves, adding depth to our understanding of life and underscoring the shifting and complex nature of identity.

Each installation in this exhibition makes manifest, both aesthetically and allegorically, the effects of the passage of time. Death is not simply an end; instead offering a transformational and transitional moment that contains within itself the ultimate human experience. Redefining death, separating the concept from more traditional paradigms of a spiritual or religious nature, allows me to seek out this transition in suspended animation. The scars and fissures, acquired during the life-cycle of both flesh and earth, demonstrate, and then inevitably define, our own unique role in this universal process. New life may then be borne from these ruptures, in what is paradoxically an inconceivably vulnerable, yet ultimately resilient skin.

Undeciphered (2011)

The impetus for this installation stems from my desire to pay homage to my father, a general contractor and a man of few words who did not easily express his emotions. He was most comfortable when surrounded by the tools of his trade; as such tools (and the workspace) became the means of communication between us.

Undeciphered is a story void of words yet layered with meaning. In this installation, I begin with the premise that the hand was the first tool of man and everything following that is an extension of man's hand. In addition, I propose the hand is man's first tool in communication. Over thousands of years, clay has chronicled man's evolution, leaving traces of their activities and culture and revealing technological advancements. Our predecessors have long since used impressions in clay and clay forms shaped by hand as a way of storytelling.

Meaning through words can easily be misunderstood or lost in transmission or translation. In place of words, impressions of my hands are assembled into hieroglyphs to create a visual narrative. These hieroglyphs contain an imprint of the hand capturing a moment in time (pressure, intention, emotion). The use of primitive pit firing techniques has also left its mark on the elements of this installation: each piece is a unique record of the passage of smoke and time. In Undeciphered, there is no literal interpretation, underlining the notion that meaning is more in the act of communicating and gestural nuances than the actual language used.

Gordie Ishizuka  

by Denis Longchamps