On View through December 15, 2024
Moko Fukuyama [11]
See the Forest For the Sea
Fallen timber, acrylic urethane paint, epoxy resin, inkjet print on photo paper, steel
About
Lighthouse Works is proud to announce the exhibition on Silver Eel Cove of See the Forest for the Sea, a sculpture by artist Moko Fukuyama.
See the Forest for the Sea takes inspiration from lure fishing and the ways in which fishing lures act as a conduit between the natural and built world. Fabricated in steel with elements made of salvaged lumber – felled trees sourced from various sites, including Fishers Island – the work resembles a multi-tiered tackle box. The tackle box’s three vertical “compartments” function as framing devices, each containing playful wooden sculptures that hint at lures while illuminating our ever-evolving relationship with nature.
In describing her interest in the lure as an object, Fukuyama writes: “Lure fishing is an intimate interplay between species, an attempt at understanding the sentience of the natural world. The process depends on tension, manipulation, and attraction. Personally, I cannot help but wonder what kind of consciousness is on the end of my line.”
By resuscitating fallen timber and placing it by the sea, Fukuyama not only mourns our changing environment but also celebrates nature's resilience. Each lure presented as a symbol of the reciprocal relationship between land and water, nature and humans, evokes amphibious life, and comments on our evolutionary pathway from (and potentially back to) water.
For viewers arriving by ferry to Fishers Island, the work and its combination of elements creates an almost dream-like state. In proximity to the work, one’s sense of scale and the vastness of the surrounding sea are called into question. The work also plays with the psychology behind our consumerist desires and tendencies towards ownership while conveying the importance of trees as anthropological implements.
See the Forest for the Sea is a thought-provoking exploration of the paradoxical notion of how human intellect can upset nature’s equilibrium while, at the same time, assisting nature’s longevity. The artwork, a menagerie of interrelated sculptures and notions, invites us to reflect on our own place and time and our broader ecological context.
See the Forest for the Sea is on view through December 15, 2024, and is Lighthouse Works' 11th commission of public art.
Artist
Bio
Moko Fukuyama is a multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Fukuyama immigrated to the United States from Japan in her early twenties, and has pursued her version of the American Dream ever since. Many of Fukuyama’s projects were supported by various notable non-profit institutions such as Recess, The Shed, SOHO20, Socrates Sculpture Park, Franconia Sculpture Park, River Valley Arts Collective, LongHouse Reserve, Smack Mellon and The Kitchen. Her collaborators include Aki Onda, Chuck Bettis, Virginia Overton, and Yo! Vinyl Richie. She has received grants from Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and Jerome Foundation. She has been awarded residencies at MacDowell, Stoneleaf Retreat, Art Omi and Yaddo, which named her the recipient of the Milton and Sally Michel Avery Residency in 2018, the Philip Guston and Musa McKim Residency in 2023. Through 2020 to 2022, Fukuyama participated in the Ground Floor Program at International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), where she was celebrated as their studio honoree. She is a recipient of the 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship. She is currently working on upcoming commissioned works for The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum and Lighthouse Works.
