Yuko Nishikawa
mokumoku

on view:
September 16 - November 4, 2023


”Mokumoku is a Japanese onomatopoeia which describes continually expanding formations, like clouds and smoke, that puff up, swell up and become larger with no constraining boundaries or containers. I sought Mokumoku in these hanging sculptures, finding forms that seem to grow and change from within. “


about the artist

Yuko Nishikawa creates a fantastical environment with her colorful, textural lively forms. With a hands-on, exploratory approach, she makes paintings, lighting, mobiles and sculptures using a variety of mediums including clay, wire, fabrics, as well as repurposed materials such as recycled paper and used eyewear lenses.

Her work reflects her accumulative experiences in architecture, restoration, interior and furniture design, crafts and engineering. Growing up in a small seaside town just south of Tokyo, Japan, Nishikawa received her B.F.A. in Interior Design from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology in 2002. Since then, she has surveyed courthouses, hospitals and federal buildings; documented the Guggenheim Museum’s facade for the restoration project in 2008; and assisted in hospitality and residential interior design projects for some of NYC’s leading studios such as Clodagh, Bilhuber Inc. and Alexandra Champalimaud. 

She currently works in her studio in the industrial area in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, which she built out with friends utilizing demolished materials found in the building. She named this space Forest: a place where things grow and things decay to nourish new lives, and where people wonder and discover something new. In this space, for four years, she hosted the monthly Salon at Forest, a gathering and conversation of creative minds, which has been on pause since the beginning of the pandemic.

Please inquire with gallery@alisonmilne.com for more info!