December in NYC + ringing in the new year

December was an extremely intense time with major, nearly impossible deadlines. Then, family visits  became unexpectedly much more challenging than usual. This is a rock that my eldest niece painted. She said we could get rid of it once it was documented (if I had had more room in my suitcase, I would have taken it home to put into my garden). I am so grateful to have escaped the flu while staying with sick relatives, caregiving, housekeeping, etc.

Due to all of that, I couldn't see as much art or as many friends as I would have liked, but was so glad to reunite with former hanji students. We were meant to have two more join but they were also felled by viral stuff (a particularly nasty year! I'm glad I got my flu shot earlier in the season). Justine and her family came out during a trip they made from various parts of the US, and we met at the Japan Society to see the Chiharu Shiota show.

Everyone except for her brother here has been part of Hanji Retreat! Justine, Esther, and Christie, in an installation where I immediately in my paper snobbery wondered why the paper was not handmade.

I wanted Esther and Justine (and the other two who had to stay home) to meet so that they were connected before our fall hanji summit. It is a luxury to have younger hanji folks who can figure out good places to lunch afterwards, and everyone was in good spirits given the heavy rain.

In April, I had intended to see the Ruth Asawa retrospective in San Francisco, but my first Covid infection derailed that completely. Then in Dec, I had to delay seeing the NYC iteration because other people were sick. Near the end of my visit, I finally went with family, which meant less close viewing. Not that I begrudged a different experience: it's wonderful to follow a five-year-old discover art without getting bogged down in labels or the viewing flow that the museum has tried to lay out. I watched my niece point and show me what she was drawn to. She especially loved the artwork by children, while I loved Asawa's drawings near the end.

The larger sculptures are amazing, but I loved the tiny ones, the fact that Asawa knew she could only do so many of them for so long. Artmaking has many chapters in a lifetime, and our bodies dictate what we can or cannot do, so it's a gift to capture certain abilities while we still have them.

Back in Ohio, students from various classes (this is a Japanese class taught by Ann Sherif) have been visiting the paper show at Oberlin's art museum. Here is Kevin, the curator of the show (and Asian art curator), speaking to the students.

And in a final museum visit for the year, Sooa, the Korean art curator at the Cleveland Museum of Art, provided us with a special activation of the Haegue Yang piece in the Korean gallery. What a treat!