Misako Inaoka
My interests arise from the boundary between what we call natural and artificial. I observe the physical and social environment in detail, to find hidden beauty and peculiarity-- things such as a cell phone antenna in the shape of a pine tree, birds that are not native to the area, or moss growing in a crack of cement sidewalk. I emphasize these subtle details and exaggerate their illogicality to cultivate my own version of invented creatures.
To arouse notions of existence and coexistence, I construct environments that are rooted in the reality of vanishing species and mutating nature. My minuscule sculptures and site-specific installations force viewers to focus on small details and to take a harder look at their surroundings. My world is not a creation of total imagination, but is a hybrid of the artificial and the actual.