Episode One

KOKO’s Love is multifaceted and manifests itself in different forms, such as a single-channel video, a video installation/sculpture, and painting. KOKO’s Love has been exhibited as an installation in a created home environment, as well as being embedded in a fresco foam sculpture of a hybrid “Kokeshi” doll, a traditional wooden Japanese doll, which was carved to ward off fires and evil, especially in regards to a prosperous business. The “Kokeshi” sculpture, inspired by a fresco painting (48” x 88”) investigating my personal history, portrays a multigenerational Japanese-American family as stylized “Kokeshi.” The liquor store business was run by many Japanese-Americans to financially support their families, and Koko’s Liquor is a store my father ran for 20 years.