The artist, in my view, is not there to proclaim a truth but to invite feeling, reflection, and observation.
Aiko Miyanaga, "Message from the light", 2023, glass, air, 16 x 16 x 14 cm, 4,5 kg © Miyanaga Aiko / Mizuma Art Gallery / Le Clézio Gallery
I grew up in a house where the past was ever-present. The bust of my great-grandfather, sculpted by Numata Ichiga, commanded attention both in the garden and upstairs. It was so realistic that it seemed to watch us. It still does. Similarly, the pieces from the Higashiyama kiln—both old and new—coexisted in our daily lives without special regard. They were not displayed, just used. The past was not a distant or revered thing; it was part of life.
My father was a member of the Sōdeisha group. He created non-functional ceramic objects, and his friends said he had no interest in reproducing what had already been done. Thus, I learned not to replicate but to seek the meaning behind what is made, to invent, to question. My mother told me that one should never take information for granted, even if it came from a newspaper. Each person must evaluate its reality and relevance. In this environment, I understood early on that every act of creation also engages memory, both critical and vibrant, a memory that needs to be activated.
I am deeply interested in the past, memory, and history, yet I do not fall into nostalgia. What I seek is to transmit something new through the exploration of the past. For nothing emerges from nothing. Even when one thinks they are creating something novel, they rely on what precedes. The present and the future are extensions of the past.
Aiko Miyanaga, "night voyage -clock-", 2023, glass box, mothballs, clock hands, mixed media, 20 × 55 × 40 cm + light base (100 × 57 × 22 cm). Photo Bruno Pellarin ©Miyanaga Aiko, Courtesy of Le Clézio Gallery
In certain works, I use plaster molds from my great-grandfather. But I do not seek to restore or complete the missing forms. It is not about reproduction. My wish is to highlight continuity, a circulation. In the series "Waiting for Awakening," for example, clocks are covered in resin. They can be activated later, at the chosen moment by their owner. This represents latent memory, in waiting. The work acquires its own temporality, and time does not stop there; it circulates differently.
For me, time is never fixed. When I shape a pair of mothball shoes, one might see a desire to capture a moment. But as soon as the object is removed from the mold, it begins to transform, to metamorphose. And this slow, continuous transformation says something about time itself, a time that passes but does not erase, a time that changes state. I perceive the present in this act of observation, in that moment of looking and becoming aware. It is there that time crystallizes briefly before resuming its course.
Aiko Miyanaga, “valley of sleeping sky -prone tiger-“, 2023, glass box, mothballs, mixed media, 30 x 40 x 28 cm + light base (100 x 32 x 42 cm), private collection. Photo KIOKU Keizo ©Miyanaga Aiko, Courtesy of Mizuma Art Gallery/Le Clézio Gallery
If I use materials like glass or resin, it is not for their solidity but for their ability to welcome change. Glass, for instance, appears fixed, but it comes from a molten state. It carries within it the memory of transformation. My works are not immutable: they breathe, absorb light, and evolve.
I believe that memory is not just a reminder of the past: it is a flow. It also contains a part of the future. It is transmitted, circulates, and transforms.
The artist, in my view, is not there to proclaim a truth but to invite feeling, reflection, and observation. My work is not a discourse; it is a silent experience that perhaps allows one to hear what remains hidden. What touches me in the art of others is when a work brings forth something invisible, an aura, a presence. When it connects us to another time, to another reality. This link, this echo between times, is also what I seek to make exist in my own work. A memory of material, a memory of vision.
Aiko Miyanaga, “valley of sleeping sea - puppy“, 2023, glass, air (based on a plaster mold by Tozan Miyanaga), 13 x 12 x 15 cm, private collection. ©Miyanaga Aiko, courtesy of Mizuma Art Gallery/Le Clézio Gallery
