PRESS RELEASE
PARADISE REBORN: REWILDING PALMYRA
DATES: 2.3.2023-2.24.2023
LOCATION: N & A Art Site
1-11-6 Kamimeguro Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-0051 Japan
(TOKYO, JAPAN February 3-February 24, 2023) Hawaii-based multimedia artist Taiji Terasaki made his artistic debut in 2017 after a lifetime of pursuing alternate creative endeavors. His work ranges from immersive large-scale installations to video and photographic mist projections, often highlighting hot-button cultural and environmental conversations. Now, Terasaki, who has built his career on innovation and experimentation, is exhibiting his environmentally-focused project Paradise Reborn: Rewilding Palmyra presented by Fumio Nanjo at N&A, Inc. in Tokyo, Japan. This exhibition coincides with the The Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions.
In 2018, artist-activist Taiji Terasaki took part in an artist residency on Palmyra Atoll, a wildlife refuge in the Pacific 1,100 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands. The experience had a profound effect on Terasaki, focusing his practice on stories of conservation and environmental action. The remote atoll, once devastated by human activity during World War II, has since rebounded through thoughtful stewardship by scientists and conservation specialists, and has become a living laboratory to explore solutions to the critical environmental challenges of our time.
Since its establishment in 1990, N and A Inc. (collectively, “N and A”) has been engaged in the planning and management of museums and galleries; the curation and management of exhibitions and art festivals; the consulting of public art and corporate art; the coordination of symposiums and international conferences; and the editing of publications, all with a focus on contemporary art from the academic perspective. N&A has made notable achievements in planning and realization of the Shinjuku I-Land Public Art Project; founding, planning, operation, and management of the Towada Art Center and the Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art; the Singapore Biennale in 2006 and 2008; the KENPOKU ART in 2016; and the Honolulu Biennial in 2017.
Terasaki will be showcasing his wide range of masterful artworks in this international showcase. With his piece Interconnection, the artist juxtaposed specific species of Palmyra to represent the relationship between them, and how they each play a vital role in sustaining a healthy ecosystem. In his work(s) entitled Beauty, traditional still photographs are printed on custom Japanese handmade paper and given a hologram effect through a unique printing process developed in the studio. For the installation Palmyra Biodiversity: Ocean, Land, Sky, images of the atoll are projected onto columns of live mist to convey the delicate and ephemeral quality of a balanced ecosystem.
As seen through Terasaki’s work, the vitality of Palmyra’s restored ecosystem highlights nature’s resilience, and draws on themes related to the current climate crisis and conservation efforts within the Pacific. Its success provides insights into the potential of intentional human effort, and gives us hope for a more restorative future.
Paradise Reborn: Rewilding Palmyra will open at N & A, Inc. in Tokyo, Japan in early 2023 from February 3rd to 24th.
For more information about Terasaki’s work or this exhibition, please contact: Fumio Nanjo nii@nanjo.com or Carley Shimizu at carley@taijiterasaki.com .
About Taiji Terasaki
Taiji Terasaki is a Japanese-American artist based in Honolulu, Hawai’i. Growing up in a family of scientists and creatives, Terasaki has immersed himself in exploring innovations in his craft, working in photography, sculpture, immersive and large-scale installations, and pioneering mediums like mist projections as canvas. Through his work, Terasaki has long considered the interconnectedness of humanity within its natural environment. Whether it's the global effects of climate change or the delicate balance of local food systems, he considers the direct consequences our actions and bodies have within the larger web of the environment.
Terasaki made his public debut in 2017 with REBIRTH at Honolulu’s Ward Center, and Edible Landscapes for the Trillenium in conjunction with Contact 3017: Hawai‘i in 1,000 Years at the Honolulu Museum of Art. His solo shows include Feeding the Immortals at the Ravizza Brownfield Gallery, Honolulu (2018), Transcendients: Immigrant Stories of Place at Thomas Square, Honolulu (2019); Transcendients: Heroes at Borders, Transcendients: 100 Days of Covid-19, and Transcendients: Memorial to Healthcare Workers at the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles (2020); and RESET/RESHAPE at the Schaefer International Gallery, Maui (2021).
In 2018, Terasaki traveled to the Palmyra Atoll for an artist residency with The Nature Conservancy. Since then, a large part of his practice has centered on the conservation efforts taking place on the atoll and the broader effects of environmental preservation.
In 2022, Terasaki participated in the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal as a featured artist in the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Artist-at-Sea exhibition. Through collaboration with non-profit organizations Parley for the Oceans and AltaSea’s Artist residency program, Terasaki debuted his ongoing installation project The Water Understands Civilization Well at AltaSea’s Blue Hour 3 in 2022 at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, CA. Currently, he is working on a mural focused on food sustainability to debut in February 2023 entitled Recipes to Nourish the Planet, for the new headquarters of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA). His upcoming exhibition Palmyra Reborn: Rewilding Palmyra at the N & A, Inc in Tokyo, Japan will open in early 2023.
Stay connected with the work of Taiji Teraskai by following the studio online at @taijiterasaki or by signing up for the studio's newsletter at www.taijiterasaki.com .