desire path: 四

desire path: 四

Kiani Kodama

Through the material transformation and positioning of objects that wield the body, Kiani Kodama explores silent exchanges between that which is human, animal, and ancestral. Guided by non-Western medicine, massage tools, Buddhist dance rituals, and organic materials, she finds correspondence in anomalous places.

The meridian system in Chinese medicine is a network of internal bodily pathways through which energy flows through. These channels are animated via reflexology, a therapeutic practice in which applied pressure to the body through massage or specially-made objects aid internal functioning. Kodama views these objects as beacons of nonverbal communication, regulating the untouchable space of one’s inner anatomy. Kodama transforms these tactile, bodily tools into materials such as glass, porcelain, and soap. By multiplying and arranging the cast objects, their communicative abilities are extended outwards.

In Japanese Buddhist “Obon” rituals, rhythmic bodily movements are believed to summon and honor ancestors. Inspired by this dance pattern as a mode of contact, Kodama forms drawings on panels with rice – an organic, impermanent material which grows, nourishes, and corrodes. Jasmine, black, and wild rice are adhered to wooden panels in undulating patterns – grains scurry without clear origin, route, or destination.

Through novel arrangements, Kodama’s work becomes navigational in nature, forging unconventional pathways that connect living and nonliving entities. Not only are the works acts of memorial, but choreographed forms spun from secretive languages gently asking to be deciphered.