VISUAL ARTS
BY ESTER BARKAI
LOST AND
FOUND
A new installation by Eugene’s
Mika Aono at Barn Light East
I
n a video, artist Mika Aono tells us she is inter-
ested in compulsive behavior. After a short while
watching, we get an idea the artist is referring to
herself. Aono compulsively collects things other
people might throw away, and her new work Spill
is composed of pieces greatly inspired by her collec-
tions.
Eugene Contemporary Art presents Spill at Barn
Light East through June 30.
The idea for the exhibit — that feelings and emo-
tions spill out — is the theme connecting an other-
wise-varied collection of prints, small sculptures and
wall- and ceiling-sized installations. It is Aono’s inter-
est in compulsive behavior, as it relates to collecting,
and her passion for found objects that I found most
compelling. Old rusty nails, copper shavings and used
Styrofoam pieces are among the materials collected
and used for her art.
None of the individual pieces in the exhibit are
titled, which reflects the artist’s desire for viewers to
come to their own conclusions — as well as to Eugene
Contemporary Art’s printed statement, found on the
flip side of the artist’s, that Art is Hard.
Little Creature is the name that some at the show’s
opening used to refer to a small sculpture made of
copper shavings lit from inside with LED lights. The
shavings were leftovers, strips taken off a copper
plate, part of a process printmakers use to give the
plate a beveled edge. Instead of throwing the shavings
away Aono saved them. Little Creature was born out
of this collection of shavings.
The building blocks for the large installation hang-
ing from the ceiling are packing peanuts. These Styro-
foam pieces stem from a collection that took the artist
five years to build, saving them each time she received
a package at work.
Looking at the Styrofoam with an artist’s eye, she
found the shapes of each foam peanut oddly amusing.
In general, she is inspired by found objects because, as
she states in her video, “they were once part of some-
thing else.” It is this idea, that objects have history,
which attracts her to working with used things.
Mika Aono was, herself, once part of something
else. She was born and raised in Japan before she
moved to the United States in her 20s. Now she lives in
Eugene, where she works as a studio technician and has
the opportunity to collect things that are usually thrown
away, like copper shavings and packing peanuts.
See the video at EugeneContemporaryArt.com/spill-mika-aono-barn-light-east.
LITTLE CREATURE
PART OF THE NEW WORK SPILL
BY ARTIST MIKA AONO
ON DISPLAY AT BARN LIGHT EAST
THROUGH JUNE 30
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