Week 14 – Artist Conversation #5

Artist: Kiyomi Fukui

Exhibition: The Green Thumb Project

Media: Scrap paper, various seeds

Website: http://www.kiyomifukui.com

Instagram: kiyomimiz

Kiyomi Fukui is an artist who currently lives in Long Beach, California. She is half Korean and half Japanese. Fukui enjoys using actual participants and people in her art to capture those moments she considers to be art. For her project The Green Thumb Project, she included her mother in it to capture that beautiful moment before her passing.

Kiyomi Fukui’s project The Green Thumb Project began in 2014. It includes nature and gives off peaceful vibes. Kiyomi took the mold of her mother’s thumb using some sort of gooey silicone to mold the shape of her thumb. She then planted some seeds in the mold and let nature grow within the molded thumb. The plants are very green and the plant beds are square shaped and wooden.

The meaning behind her project is meant to be metaphoric. Kiyomi mentions how the mold of her mothers thumb was something she could nurture and take care of even after her mother passed away. She aims to always have that beautiful memory of her mother and finds that growing something made from her mothers thumb will help her in creating a memento of her loss.

Overall, I find Kiyomi Fukui’s artwork and passion for her plants something to admire. I feel that she successfully connected something very important in her life to one of her passions. Her admiration for what she does is evident through her words and artwork.