33tk Green Blue Screen One, Tamiko Kawata, cardboard, safety pins, acrylic on canvas, 20” x 20”, 2018, $5,500
32tk Cactus, Tamiko Kawata , saftey pin, stainless steel wire, 16” x 18” x 17”, 2013, $10,000
30tk Sea Anemone, Tamiko Kawata, safety pins, 48” x 48”, 2012-14, $12,000
19tk Stillness Within, Tamiko Kawata, saftey pins, acrylic on canvas, 42" x 48", 2002-2004, $7,000
22tk Grove Tamiko Kawata, safety pins, 21.5" x 27" x 25", 54.5cm x 68.5cm x 63.5cm, $10,000
25tk Windows, Tamiko Kawata, japanese safety pins, 32.5" x 31.5" x 1", 2010, $8,000
17tk Silver Sphere, Tamiko Kawata, saftey pins, 14" x 14" x 14", 2004, $6,000
Selected collections and exhibition venues:
Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin (Fiber R/Evolution International); Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York (Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, permanent collection); New York State Museum, Albany: Crafts Council, London, UK (International Textile Exhibition); Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, New York; Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, New York (Nature of Fiber); New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts, Summit; Takano Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, New York (Transformation); Staller Center for the Arts, SUNY, Stony Brook, New York; Glyndor Gallery/Wave Hill, Bronx, New York; Japan Craft & Design Association Gallery, Tokyo; Islip Art Museum, East Islip, New York (Make the Most of It: Eight Artists); American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, New York (Annual Invitational Exhibition); Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, New York; Lafcadio Hearn/Yakumo Koizumi Art Museum, Matsue, Japan; Housatonic Museum, Bridgeport, Connecticut (Pins and Needles); Kentler International Drawing Center, Brooklyn, New York.
1tk Protrusion
Tamiko Kawata, nickel-plated safety pin , 24" x 36" x 36", 1993, $5,000
Statement:
Safety pins function variously as thread, yarn, clay or truss in my work process. I found them soon after I arrived from Japan, out of the necessity to shorten all-too-long American clothing. I noticed their smooth texture and their head- and tail-like details. In the beginning, I found ways to interlock them, as if weaving. I found constructing systems as I went along, using only the inherent structural properties of the pins, and now can create anything from "drawings" to three-dimensional, self-standing works.
Tamiko Kawata
