Daily Tree Rubbings in Glass Box
I am Still In New York (2020)
I am Still In Japan (2021)
TIME (2021 ~ current)
Part 1 I am Still in New York
2020.4.20 - 2020. 8.22 (125days)
I Am Still In NY 2020 Washi, Charcoal, Glass, Tinned Copper
I Am Still In New York is an art project created in response to the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a time when most forms of movement were restricted, neighborhood walks were still allowed.
Each day, I collected bark rubbings from trees in my area, observing the relationship between people and nature in the urban landscape.
The first rubbing was made on April 20, 2020—the day I had originally planned to return to Japan. New York was under lockdown, and my flight had been canceled.
As the city's response to the pandemic grew more intense each day, I noticed that the trees in my neighborhood remained where they had always been, and that the birds were singing even more than before.
73日目 7.1.2020 Site Photo
Day 96 7.24.2020 Site Photo
Day 43 6.1.2020 Site Photo
Day 73 7.1.2020 Tree Rubbing on Washi
Day 96 7.24.2020 Tree Rubbing on Washi
Day 43 6.1.2020 Tree Rubbing on Washi
“On the street,
in front of the beautiful house,
in trash,
with people,
by itself,
through a metal fence,
and so on.
Memories of
my neighbourhood trees,
captured in rubbings
thus
quietly breathe
within transparent boxes.”
I Am Still In New Yozrk Detail
Each rubbing, collected daily, is placed in a handmade glass case coded by weather: silver for sun, gray for clouds, and black for rain. In this way, the weather itself becomes part of the archive.
Every case is engraved with a unique serial number, like a small code pointing to an unknown place, a tree, or a trace of memory.
The phrase I Am Still In New York carries a quiet determination—to remain present even amid change and uncertainty. The handmade glass boxes reflect this spirit: fragile and imperfect, like the human condition itself.
Though the collection may appear uniform at first glance, no two pieces are ever the same.
20168 5.21.2020
A beautiful sunny morning. Red roses, blue sky.
Washi, Charcoal, Glass, Tinned Copper
8.5 x 6.5 x 1.3 cm
20089 5.8.2020
Cloudy afternoon after rain.
Washi, Charcoal, Glass, Tinned Copper
8.5 x 6.5 x 1.3 cm
20405 7.6.2020
Rainy late afternoon.
Washi, Charcoal, Glass, Tinned Copper
8.5 x 6.5 x 1.3 cm
Part 2 I am Still in Japan
2021.1.14 - 2021. 4.3 (81 days)
Installation view of I Am Still In Japan.
The work consists of 81 individual boxes, each measuring 8.5 × 6.5 × 1.3 cm, made with washi paper, charcoal, and glass.
After travel restrictions were lifted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the artist was finally able to leave New York and travel to Yokohama to care for her aging parents.
However, while in Japan, a new travel ban was issued—this time preventing her from returning to the United States.As her stay extended, Miyamori began a new daily routine: each morning, she would take her 97-year-old father out of his care facility for a walk, during which they collected tree rubbings together.
This series was created over 81 days, from January 14, 2021 (the artist’s birthday), until April 3, the day before she returned to her home and studio in New York.
Touching on Miyamori’s past, present, and future, the project marks time in a poetic way—reviving old memories while creating new ones.— Summary from a column by Paul Laster (Art Writer / New York)
Part 3 TIME
2021.10.11 ~ current
TIME
TIME is an ongoing art project by Keiko Miyamori that began on October 11, 2021. Although daily updates are shared on Instagram, the project itself is not digital. It is a handmade, physical record of time, memory, and presence, created quietly and carefully in the studio. Each rubbing and glass box is made by hand, with all soldering and assembly done by the artist. In this way, a daily routine is transformed into material form.
The project started when Miyamori’s father, then 97, was scheduled for cancer surgery. From that day on, she began taking two small bark rubbings each morning from the same tree. One of the rubbings is carefully chosen and placed in a handmade glass box. The edges of each box change color with the weather—silver for sun, black for rain, gray for clouds, and white for snow.
TIME unfolds both online and in physical exhibitions. Visitors are invited to select a piece that resonates with them and take it home. When a piece is chosen, the second rubbing from that day takes its place, preserved in a blue glass box. These blue boxes quietly mark moments of connection, memory, and recognition.
Some people choose a piece for its look, but many are drawn to a specific date—one that holds personal meaning, such as a birthday, an anniversary, or a moment of change. Everyone has such a day. Each piece becomes a small vessel for private memory.
Daily photos often include Miyamori’s father, her mother, and their therapy cat Maru, who passed away during the project. Later, a new kitten, Yoji, joined the family. Over time, her father passed away at age 100, and Yoji grew up. Life goes on—with joy and loss, birth and death, peaceful days and troubling times.
TIME began as a way to preserve the final chapter of her family’s life together. But it has grown into a meditative, open-ended archive. It invites us to slow down and reflect on time—not just as something that passes, but as something we live through and learn from.
In a world that moves ever faster, TIME remains—quietly, and always—present.
The daily Rubbings in Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keiko_miyamori/
TIME in exhibition The Sea of Memories, Rose’s Pride, Nakamuraya Salon Museum, Tokyo, Japan 2023
TIME in exhibition Keiko Miyamori, Kyokusyo Museum, Gifu, Japan 2024