MELODY & RYUGASAKI FOREST
2000 & 2003
I. Origins Of Melody At Ryugakasi Forest
2000
Making exhibition Melody video by Art in Motion
“In January of 2000, I visited a forest in Ryugasaki-city in Japan. The forested area had just been chosen to be heavily developed as a city park project. Many of the trees were marked with tape, which meant those trees would be cut off for the project. I made an art installation in the forest using tree rubbings on Washi paper, which were hung in the forest over a length of 57 meters. In February 2003, I visited the same area in Japan. It was still under construction, and the forest seemed dry. However, some of the trees had survived. I covered those trees with washi paper and rubbed the surface with charcoal. These transformed washi papers were brought to the United States and were pasted onto the piano which is seen in the show Melody. This forest does not exist anymore so my hope was to encourage the survival of those trees by having people think about them and play music to celebrate our existence on the earth.”
– Keiko Miyamori
Imagine - Here and There 2000 Washi, Charcoal, Wire
Imagine - Here and There 2000 Washi, Charcoal, Wire
Detail Of Imagine Here and There
II. MELODY
2003
In Melody, Miyamori used rubbings from Ryugasaki Forest and transferred them onto both natural and man-made objects, creating a quiet harmony born from the forest. Though the original forest no longer exists, its presence lives on through her work.
By rubbing the surface of a tree onto another object—whether industrial or organic—she continues her themes of transfer, layering, and transformation. To express renewal, Miyamori collects materials directly from nature. She often burns branches in small pits to create charcoal, using it to make rubbings on handmade washi. These raw materials, shaped by hand and time, give new life to forgotten or discarded objects.
Melody 2003 Washi, Charcoal, Piano, Water Prism, Typewriter, Root and other enveloped objects
By using trees as a symbol of harmony between objects and space, Keiko chose a form that exists in a natural balance of giving and receiving. Her work invites viewers to reflect on how we, too, are part of this interconnected world—existing not only in ourselves, but in the spaces between and within other things.
Through this meditation, we may begin to see beyond our physical selves. Time and distance lose their weight, and caring for the environment becomes essential—because in doing so, we care for ourselves.
During the exhibition, Miyamori also invited a local poet and pianist to create a live, interactive performance using the typewriter and piano wrapped in washi, as part of the installation.
Detail of Piano from Melody 2003