Statement - Wish Tying

Since 1996, I have been collecting “wish ties.”  These are made by people in the United States who write their wishes on pieces of paper and tie them into knots.  The impetus for my project stems from the traditional Japanese custom of “omikuji” (purchasing paper fortunes in shrines and tying them to trees with their wishes).  It is not my intention to follow the Japanese tradition literally, but to find a way through my own background and culture to connect and establish links to the Western world.  Also, it is a way for me as a foreigner to meet many people and understand more about the country.  This project has taken me to a variety of public sites, including parks, beaches, cafeterias, and schools.  I incorporated this concept and American cultural attitudes into a video and into many installations that involve the theme of personal wishes. “Wish Flower,” “Wish Stones,” “Wish Necklace for 28 women,” “Wish Balls,” “Wishes by Mail,” “Wish Quilt,” “Slippery Knots,” “Wish Sandals,” “Bullet Cloth IV,” “Origami Cloth,” Sashiko Cloth,” and “Kimono-Go: US Presidential Election Wishes” are installation manifestations of my “Wish Project.”

The first installation, “Wish Flower” is presented as floating in the air.  This idea originates from the Japanese children’s tradition called “Teru Teru Bozu” which are tissue dolls made especially as a way to wish for sunny weather during rainstorms.  One hundred of my flowers suspended on the same level create an ephemeral world.

In “Wish Stones” the papers were cast into the form of stones and imbedded in a wall.  In Japanese, “stone” is pronounced “ISHI” which means stone and will.  Stones are very strong and are not changed easily even in harsh weather. The fragility of what the wishes encompass is preserved in these hard forms.  One hundred stones were used having different colors and textures, and a lighting system behind.  The stones blink like stars.

In another installation, “Wish Necklace for 28 women,” I made a huge pearl necklace with 28 women’s wishes.  American people seem very strong to me but they are also vulnerable.  As a gender and ethnic stereotype, Japanese women are assumed to be quiet and gentle.  This is not always true.  As a Japanese woman who came to the United States, dreaming of becoming an independent, internationally active artist and educator, I was greatly inspired by the wishes of the women in this country.  I imbedded those feelings, struggles, and sympathy into a fragile cast wax form with panty hose.  I made this piece when I was 28 years old, at a time when I had both fears and hopes about becoming 30.  Two pearls are plain, indicating possibilities for the future, and the other 28 pearls are decorated with objects usually associated with women.  The numbers 28 and 30 are related to women’s cycles as well.  The 30 pearls are held together with my hair that serves as a vehicle to make a connection between the participants and myself.  The women’s wishes are sleeping in my pearls as if real pearls were sleeping in their shells.  The universal form of the circle in this necklace holds divine power to encourage those wishes to come true.

“Wish Balls I” is the hanging of one hundred paper balls made of children’s wishes.  In Japan, children play with colorful paper balls called “Kamifusen” which are very light and easily blown up from a little hole.  When I was in Chicago I interacted with lots of children through this project and my teaching.  I have loved watching the kids writing and tying wishes.  Children usually have lots of wishes. “Only one?”, “Is this going to come true?” Some kids whisper in their parent’s ear. If they can’t write, I encourage them to draw it. I have found that children also wish some of the same things adults wish for: peace, family, friends and money.  The most popular wish is “to have a dog,” and the saddest wish to me is “to live with my dad” or “to see my real mother.” I was equally touched by the child-like wishes such as “to fly in the sky,” “for Santa Claus to come,” “I want a lion and tiger,” and “all the ice-cream in the world.”

As a different way of collecting wishes, I sent letters to many people, some of whom I know, and many people I didn’t know.  I included an explanation of my project with the following choices: 1. Everyone can read my wish;  2. Only Seiko can read my wish; and 3. No one can read my wish, inviting individuals to mark one choice.  I also included wrinkled paper for people to write wishes on. I did not have any expectations as to what my response rate would be.  I received about an 80 % rate of response which was very encouraging.  Everyone’s paper knot was pressed beautifully in the envelope, like pressed flowers; some people included their ideas using another element such as thread.  Some people included notes with their wishes.  I was very inspired by the uniqueness of these wishes.  In the gallery space, I installed the letter responses and the wish ties on the wall in the form of a grid, calling it “Wishes by mail.”  The audience was in physical contact with the installation. I put up a sign: “If the letter says that you can read the wish you can untie, read, and put it back please.”  In the beginning, people hesitated to touch the artwork, but, later, they seemed to enjoy opening wishes.  At the reception, I heard a woman scream.  She showed me what she found inside of someone’s wish paper.  It was a “wish bone.”  She explained to me the American custom of breaking them to make wishes.  This is a really cross-cultural experience for me, because I was taught how American people make a wish. (I screamed quietly).

“Slippery Knots I” and “Slippery Knots II” are cast multi-colored soap knots imbedding people’s wishes into the soap. Each form of the soap knot is different and the text on the paper is partially seen through the soap.  I untied the paper knots to read people’s wishes, then I retied the wishes in another form of knot.  I became interested in thinking about “knots” and “ties” as having a powerful meaning.  “Knots” (interlacing, bonds) and “ties” (fasten, unite, connect) are necessary in the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of our lives.  Taking advantage of working in a large scale, each knot in “Slippery Knots II” uses several wishes from a single site, acknowledging that people were momentarily at the same place even though they did not remain together.  Whether we know each other or not, people are always somewhere together.  The nine locations where I collected wishes for “Slippery Knots II” are used in the knots to connect viewers to the moment of wishing.

“Wish Sandals” consists of 15 pairs of sandals using wishes, rope-like materials, and fabric for straps.  The size of sandals changes gradually; bigger sandals are on the yellow path of the ground and as they step up to the wall, the scale diminishes.  It seems like that the loud big step becomes smaller and smaller by achieving goals little by little and the step becomes very quiet when the wish comes true.  Texts (wishes) from all sandals are shown and hidden through interlaced woven structures.  Straps have different colors and patterns for each indicating the changes in fashion and popular culture through the last decades.  I have seen straw sandals (called “waraji” in Japanese) in shrines and temples in Japan.  Footwear is considered an appropriate offering to welcome gods who have traveled from afar.  They are also worshiped as protectors of the roadway (doshojin) as well as guardian gods of the community. Nowadays, waraji are seldom made by young people’s hands.  So many traditions have been dying in the same way.   I am proud that I could learn sandal weaving from the men in my father’s hometown and apply it in a new way.  My wish sandals are carrying people’s wishes with the everlasting hopes existing between past and future.  People’s wishes change by time.  Sometimes wishes come true and we make another wish.  Sometimes it takes a long journey.  The invisible thread between the time you made a wish and the time a wish comes true is intense and beautiful.  I tried to make a special brightened path using yellow color.

Most of my work since I moved to the United States has been a process of exploring connections between Japanese and American cultures. “Bullet Cloth IV” extends the previous motifs and materials (cast wax bullet forms) of the earlier Bullet Cloth pieces along with the wishes of people in Bellingham and Osaka where I am from.  “Bullet Cloth IV” is also highly influenced by the war in Iraq and the conflict in Israel/Palestine as well as the 9/11 events.  When considering these events, I can’t help but think about my own country’s tragic history.  In countries that have not experienced the devastation of Hiroshima, it may be easy to forget the ordinary human lives at the center of the tragedy of war.  The cloth of “Bullet Cloth IV” suggests wounded skin while also becoming a prayer formed by people’s wishes.  The hair that came out from the body reminds me what I saw and heard in the horrifying past.  As a metaphor of no limitation I use the form of cloth connecting many people’s wishes with my hair in a single cloth.

“Origami Cloth” is a piece made of the wishes from the Bellingham farmer’s market during the summer time.  It is such a wonderful community spot where all local produce, foods, and arts/crafts invite many people to gather.  I could not help interacting with the people there by introducing my wish project.  Because I gave an origami workshop as another way to share Japanese culture while collecting wishes I encased the folded origami objects between the wish papers to create a quilt like hanging piece.  The hair tassels give a ritualistic power to the piece.

“Sashiko Cloth” is a piece to connect where I live with my Japanese heritage.  One of the wishes saying, in Japanese, “oishii sakana-ga tabetai” (I wish to eat good fish) inspired me.  The Nothwest is somewhat similar to Japan in its climate, and in its tradition of fishing.  Seafood and fishing is an important commonality to connect both places. I pieced together wish papers from Osaka and Bellingham, and stitched Sashiko (Japanese quilt) patterns to make a tablecloth.  Sashiko patterns have traditionally been associated with Japanese fishermen’s coats.  I picked two patterns; one is “amime” (fishing net) and the other is “shippo tsunagi” (Seven Treasures) that is common between the West and the East.  I trimmed Sashiko Cloth with my crocheted hair and hung the hair tassels on four corners. Sashiko Cloth covers a circular table and integrates a found fishing net on the floor.  I feel a strong connection with the 1000-stitched cloth (called sen-nin-bari) that was made by women during the WWII and used for solder’s protection.  The playing cards (called Bozu-mekuri) on the Sashiko Cloth suggest the way to honor women’s handiwork as well as their spiritual and magical power to protect men.

“Kimono-Go: US Presidential Election Wishes” is a piece that has screen-printed wishes from Bellingham on the US election day in November, 2004.  Because I don’t have a right to vote I had to do something on that day.  I visited several cafes all over downtown Bellingham and collected wishes for the election.  Some people were emotional and were willing to share their political opinions and concerns for our futures.  I decided to integrate two universal Japanese things, “kimono” and “go” with the wishes.  Since the election is a two person’s game to compete against each other, I use the form of “go”.  The red and blue circular objects I made with fabric are movable like the black and white stones for a real “go” game.  If one side moves the other side responds to that. It is like a dialog or conversation.   The wishes are printed orderly following the grid structure of the “go” base on the front side, and on the other side I printed randomly, over-layering, and looking like graffiti to express my emotion.

I strongly desire to extend the range of wish collections to include many different communities and tie them together through my art making.  Because I collect people’s wishes I feel that I have a responsibility to use them respectfully in my art.  I feel that I am honoring people’s wishes by sharing them with the public.  I want to expand my “Wish Project” globally and have people think about each other’s consciousness.  I believe that it will be helpful for global understanding.