My mother immigrated to the United States from Japan in the year 1993 when she was 35 years old. She moved from the mega-city Tokyo, home of Tsukiji, the biggest wholesale fish market in the world to Plainsboro, New Jersey, a township with many grocery stores and few fresh fish markets. An avid cook adapting to a new world, she began to substitute chicken for fish in her cooking. Chicken, though different from fish in texture and flavor, was both more accessible and more affordable. Her unique adaptations blurred cultural and culinary boundaries and also helped to define mine and my two brothers’ taste and relationship to both Japanese and American cuisine. Sea Chicken is a collage of imagery comprised of both fish and chicken features. Beaks, feathers, fins, and eyes are merged in a jacquard woven table runner, paying homage to my mother’s journey from Tokyo to Plainsboro.
Born and raised in New Jersey, laser cutting is what Sun Kawazoe does best. As a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), he has made accessories, light fixtures, and décor using laser cutters. Kawazoe has been exploring the qualities of accuracy and computerized expertise provided by this practice. Wood, acrylic, leather and paper frequently appear in his projects. His work was recently featured in the Fall 2017 Bachelors of Fine Arts Show at SAIC and will be featured in the upcoming 2018 Fashion Show at the Spertus Institute in Chicago. Kawazoe often ties in floral aspects as an ode to his mother, a florist allergic to pollen and a perpetual source of inspiration. Constantly pushing his limits and experimentations, he puts pride into each project to make it representative of his style: clean, precise, and eye-catching.
