Sachiko Akiyama at Matter and Light

Sachiko Akiyama, Between Dream and Memory, 2004
 wood, paint, steel, resin, 20 x 19 x 64 inches

Sachiko Akiyama: Between Here and There

Sculpture and Paintings Curated by Nina Nielsen and John Baker

There is a stillness to Sachiko Akiyama's work that is also the pebble in the pond. Its quiet energy radiates outwards. It is powerful and passive at once. It is accessible and inaccessible at once. We are left to prowl or scale or contemplate its exterior. Its interior is another matter. The eye of the needle. The razor's edge. The puzzle box. The work is curious. We can only guess at what is before us. While this is the nature of most art, Sachiko Akiyama has managed to elevate the experience to a fine level that teeters up and down the spine of tension.

Sachiko Akiyama, Winter's Night, 2016,
 wood, paint, steel, resin, 26 x 13 x 68 inches

Her sculptures push out from inside their shells, like eggs that are about to hatch. Again, we can only marvel at the smooth beautifully carved and colored wooden figures. What stirs inside is anybody's guess, which is of course the pleasure of it. The narratives bound up in each piece, a held bird, a forest carried on a back, a sleeping form, tell the story of the artist and nature. It is a uniquely sad and calm and determined story of one. A broken-hearted one. One for all.

Sachiko Akiyama, I Remember What I Did Not See, 2010
 wood, paint,  59 x 29 x 15 inches

Sachiko Akiyama is indeed a storyteller, and her sculptures cast a spell over us. A spell that like a net brings us into her magic tent. We are easily taken into her starry skies, her lapping waves, and calls in the night. Shooting stars abound. She brings us peace and goodwill. She brings us stillness. She brings us back to our senses and ourselves.

Sachiko Akiyama, Between Here and There, 2016
polychromed wood, paint,  10.5 x 7 x 11.5 inches
In collaboration with painter Rick Fox

Addison Parks
Artdeal Magazine
Spring Hill, October, 2016

Sachiko Akiyama, The Blue of Distance, 2016
 wood, paint, steel,  33 x 11 x 68 inches

Sachiko Akiyama, In the Forest of Ghosts, 2016
 wood, paint, paper, mixed media, 10.5 x 10 x 23.5 inches

Sachiko Akiyama, Untitled, 2016, acrylic
 two framed drawings, 6 x 5 & 9 x 6 inches

Sachiko Akiyama, Untitled, 2016, ink on paper

Sachiko Akiyama, Untitled--Mountain Collage,
 2016, wood, paper,  paint, acrylic, resin

Sachiko Akiyama: Between Here and There
September 16 - October 31, 2016

SCULPTURES AND PAINTINGS, CURATED BY NINA NIELSEN AND JOHN BAKER


Matter and Light Fine Art
63 Thayer St, Boston, MA 02118
Phone: (857) 990-3931