In the Spring of 2001 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Keiko Miyamori found the inspiration for a series she would call City Root. The Cambridge Plaza Housing Project in North Philadelphia was demolished to make space for a new residential development and with its demolition came the debris of brick, and building, however also the uprooting of trees around the area. Alongside the building debris were bulldozed trees that still had tangled remnants of concrete within their long roots. 

Youtube Video Making IMAGINA by Abbe Klebanoff 2002

The root that became known as the original City Root  was originally a large oak tree that stood at the corner of Girard and 11th street with the roots spanning 6ft in diameter. When Miyamori first saw the large root during the demolition of the housing project, she was absorbed by the strength of the tree that had once majestically stood with its complex root map and its overarching canopy. Within the root were pieces of brick, glass, and metal that the tree had found strength to wrap itself around and persevere to continue its spread. It was striking to Miyamori to see the tree that still grew to that size despite the obstacles Man had left behind. To Miyamori, the tree represented the energy of the city— the life of a tree in the city, and the life of the city in a tree.

In 2004, Miyamori received funding after winning first place in the Frederik Meijer Sculpture Competition. With this support, she developed a large resin cube encasing the root, intended for outdoor display at the Frederik Meijer Sculpture Garden. However, due to the scale of the work and a slightly reduced volume of resin, the sculpture developed cracks that made it too fragile for outdoor installation. To Miyamori, these cracks symbolized nature breaking free from human-imposed constraints. Her intention was to share this root—this treasure she had discovered—with others. The final sculpture weighed 20,000 pounds and measured 84 x 78 x 67 inches.

CITY ROOT CUBE SERIES

2006 - 2012

Following the City Root project, Keiko Miyamori created smaller resin cubes as experiments to better understand how tree roots, as natural materials, interact with resin polymers—particularly how air bubbles form in the process. These works evolved into a series of suspended roots encapsulated in resin, exploring the tension between nature and artificial containment.

During early testing, Miyamori used a piece titled Broken Typewriter: “yes, you can.” to see how the resin would react with organic materials—specifically, the washi paper that wrapped the object. Five years after completing City Root, and encouraged by the strong response it received, she extended the concept to her Typewriter – Energy series, embedding typewriters in resin cubes. The air bubbles that appear in these works were a natural byproduct of the resin’s contact with organic matter, and became part of the visual texture of the pieces.

Typewriter #5 “I am here.”   2012   Charcoal, Washi, Typewriter, Resin   13 ¾ x 13 ¾ x 11 ½ in.

“I am Here” points to a quiet enigma: the moment she says “I am here,” it has already passed—she is no longer here, but was there, at that specific place and time. The letters “K” and “O” are left unwrapped, evoking koko, the Japanese word for “here.”

Broken Typewriter: “yes, you can.”     2006   Charcoal, Washi, Typewriter, Resin     13 ½ x 13 ½ x 11 in.

The first work in the series, originally titled Broken Typewriter, was shipped to Keiko from Japan. The journey had left the typewriter broken and barely functioning. It was retitled Broken Typewriter: “yes, you can” as written on the paper as it was able to still print words.

Typewriter #2 “I was defeated, yet....”   2012  Typewriter, Washi, Charcoal, Resin    13 ¾ x 13 ¾ x 11 in.

Each typewriter contains a hidden message within its keys, of what is left unwrapped. and within the sheet of paper in the feed. The bubbles form and rise from the reaction between the natural washi and the chemical polymers used for the resin. Though artificial, within the resin the bubbles and ink seem to bloom as if they were alive.

“I was once on top of this tree” was created using rubbings from a 60-meter samauma tree in the Amazon, which Miyamori climbed to its crown. From that height, she could gaze over the forest canopy and sense the breathing of the rainforest, feeling deeply connected to everything around her. The typewriter ribbon was prepared to release its pigment during the casting process.