Artist: Kiyomi Fukui
Exhibition: Apologetic Garden
Media: Plants
Gallery: N/A
Website: http://www.kiyomifukui.com/
Instagram: @kiyomimiz
Kiyomi Fukui is a printmaking artist. She is a Japanese American artist who lives in Long Beach California. She received an MFA in printmaking from CSULB, and a BFA in Graphic Design form La Sierra University. At the core of her works, Fukui tries to capture the transient intimacy of everyday life.
In her Apologetic Garden set, Fukui art is less about the formal qualities of art and more about the underlying message, literally. In this set, Fukui lets nature create all of the visible work, making the formal qualities vary quite a bit. The sizes of the plants range form small succulents to juvenile trees.
In this set, the content started with a single envelope that had the words “I am sorry” written on it and had seeds placed inside of the envelope. That envelope was then planted in a garden bed and the Apologetic Garden was created. The garden grew with more letters that had seeds in them and an apology written on the top of them.
I like the way that this set turned out. I like the idea that was behind these works. I feel like putting a letter that is filled with seeds saying you’re sorry and planting it in the Earth and letting it grow is a powerful message that is also beneficial to the environment.
Cade Middaugh 