Artist Conversation #5: Kiyomi Fukui

Kiyomi Fukui

There is no doubt that art is a form of creativity, a form of expression, a way to break barriers such as with language. Art acts as the steppingstone for bringing those closer to us to create peace and love. The artist I choose to appraise was Kiyomi Fukui, and I choose to focus on her art piece titled ‘Conversation on Conflict.’ Fukui had illustrated that she was an Undergrad at California State University Long Beach. In which she had stated that she is currently working in the print making industry. Fukui had also illustrated that she is not that fond upon writing. But she feels as if, it is a necessary attribute to have, especially if you are an artist. Fukui stated that her favorite Japanese food of all time had to be noodles, also known as ‘Hot Pot.’ Fukui had also stated that the reason for making the ‘Conversation on Conflict’ project was to illustrate to her father that she loves him. And also, it allowed her to have very deep conversations with her father who now both have a deeper connection together.

It is clear that Fukui’s work is depicting a message. An emblematic message of storytelling on the importance on family relationship, and the importance of expressing your love to those who you care for most dearly. The form of the art piece is relatively equivalent, a majority of the pieces depict these aesthetic objects in which she calls them ‘cranes.’ Fukui illustrated that this process is called crane folding or 1000 paper cranes. Which look like little swans, on each swan it depicts a story or a message resembling Fukui’s father. Fukui stated that this type of artwork is typically only done in time of when a family member is near death or ill. In which if you pay close attention, each swan appears to have taken a long time to construct. This is for the reason that each swan has long list of small handwriting depicting conversations or thoughts on one another.

The art is about family, it is illustrating the importance of expressing your love and sentiment towards one another. This project illustrates that even though it may be difficult to express your emotions to those close to you. It is still important to try and express your emotions with them because it is better to live with the feeling of having expressing those emotions. Rather than having the regret and disappointment of not taking the time to express yourself. With this it granted access to be able to use the ‘cranes’ as a gate way to open yourself up to those close to you. For instance, in Fukui’s case it was with her father. In which allowed her to have a deeper connection with her father which she appreciates dearly to this day.

For the reasons above, this art gallery ‘Conversation on Conflict’ by Kiyomi Fukui illustrated to me that the Arts importance resembles the importance of family. This manifests that expressing and showing your emotions can be the greatest thing that can happen to anyone’s life. Amongst the time spent creating the ‘cranes’ it was clearly worth it since it sparked a new relationship with her father. In which Fukui now has a much better understanding on her father’s ideals and his notion on life itself.