Heidi Kumao Exhibits in NYC

“Recent Work: Video Sculpture,” a solo show by Heidi Kumao, will be on view from September 2 – 27, 2014 at Ceres Gallery in New York City. 
Opening reception Thursday, Sept. 4, 6 – 8 pm.

Three works about surviving physical confinement are each inspired by the experiences of individual women including: a college student living under an authoritarian patriarchy, a Japanese-American girl relocated to a WWII internment camp, as well as the artist’s own tribulation during months in a clamshell back brace. In each piece, Kumao interweaves video, photos, animation, and sound into a surreal visual journey that is anchored within a compelling narrative. She transforms everyday objects through mapped video in which real objects and shadows interact with shadows from non-existent objects, creating an uncanny dichotomy for the viewer to resolve.

In ​“Egress,” a stack of books becomes a portal to another room, then a police inspection area, and then an entire apartment tower. Similarly in ​“Transplant,” the projection transforms an interned prisoner’s ID tag into a gardener’s seedling, a guard tower, and an American flag. Kumao’s single channel video, ​“Swallowed Whole,” uses repeated vertical frame-rolls from analog TV to metaphorically replay the impact that literally broke her back. Bone-crushing sounds and jarring movement echo throughout the film as a window of empathy into PTSD repetition compulsion.

Ceres Gallery
547 West 27^th St Suite 201 
New York, NY 10001