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Greetings!
I’m pleased to announce that my work is now being shown in a group exhibit at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The exhibit features works by the Broad Institute’s current and former Artists-in-Residence; Daniel Kohn, Gupi Ranganathan, Muskull Lasserre, Lucy Kim, and me. I’m honored to be showing my work in a group of such talented artists! The exhibit is open to the public by appointment. It is free, but please register on Eventbrite to schedule appointments.
I was very excited to be back at the Broad Institute to install my work, “Library,” and it only took 7 hours to unwrap each petri dishes and set them up! I’m very happy to be showing these works at the Broad where I created them, but never shown them at the Broad until now. I’m curious to know what the Broad's scientists think of them.
Celebrating Art and Science at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
November 18, 2019 – February 7, 2020
Gallery Talk and Reception: January 14, 5-7pm
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA
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Library
Deaccessioned card catalog cabinets from the Harvard Fine Arts Library, Petri dishes, laser cut vellum, lab tapes, and various lab tools in the drawers.
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Oddly and interestingly, my work during the residency at the Broad turned out to be looking into the past—in particular, ancient Egyptian medicine. Time felt very compressed to me at the Broad. Trying to make sense of how biomedical science got here, I looked back in history. My work began an exploration of the interconnectedness between knowledge and belief in medical science. I incorporated magic spells from the Edwin Smith Papyrus (Egypt, 1600 BC), the earliest known medical papyrus to include prognosis. Two years on from my residency, I still contemplate our ancient convictions about medicine in a time when science, medicine, and technology are all accelerating at a rate that is unprecedented in human history. Bringing forth a forgotten past to the present, I wonder what is legitimate, what we may have lost, and what we still believe and dream.
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Library and Inscription drawings (translocation of double-stranded passage) in this exhibit, and Stories Retold, (shown below,) my installation of 196 decals in the 415 Main Street lobby, are projects using imagery that I became interested in during my residency at the Broad Institute. In these pieces I incorporate letters of magic spells that were traced from a copy of the Edwin Smith papyrus. Written in hieratic, these magic spells are listed as treatments on the verso side of the papyrus. In my work, the spells are broken apart, edited and stranded to make new meanings, or stored in petri dishes to be reexamined.
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Upcoming Exhibition
Charting the World: Subjective MapMaking (group exhibition)
January 30 – February 27, 2020
Opening Reception: January 30, 5:30 – 7:30pm
Suffolk University Gallery
8 Ashburton Place, Boston, MA
Featuring works by Kate McClean, Heidi Whitman, Yu-wen Wu, Deb Todd Wheeler, Terri Rueb, and Naoe Suzuki
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What we call the ‘world’… is not given as self-evident from the outset. It is apprehended…in an ongoing ‘crisis’ of spatial consciousness. E. Cassirer
For centuries, we have used maps to chart the world – from the body to the stars and everything in between. Both foreign and familiar, we can both lose and find ourselves. Mapping is a way of using spatial reasoning. Many contemporary artists use maps or refer to them in some way to inform their work: Google maps, imaginary maps, mind maps, genome mapping, data visualization, historical maps. The results are often reflective and personal. Questions abound: What is the meaning of a map in 2020? How has that changed with the abundance of possibilities available by way of our devices? How do we find the way to each other and back to ourselves?
- Deborah Davidson, curator
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Detail from 1888 Adirondack Wilderness map, from "Extinction Studies" series
India ink and walnut ink on paper, 85"x 70", 2019
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The Adirondack Forest Preserve in 1885 was prompted by the public outcry over water quality and deforestation of the land in the Adirondack region in northeastern New York. Today’s Adirondack Park, a six-million acre of public and private lands, was established in 1892 to protect the region from uncontrolled deforestation.
In my "Extinction Studies" series, I trace the names of the animals and other creatures from the maps and cover the other areas in black ink. Floating in the sea of blackness, these names become stars in the sky, constellations, and ghosts of our memories of places we hold dear, reminding us of the first settlers—animals, fish, birds, insects, and trees before humans occupy the land. If this area wasn’t designated as protected area from deforestation and other industries, we would not have what we have today. The history of the Adirondacks teaches us the importance of protecting the natural resources for all people and all living creatures.
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Map of Saranac Lake and Surrounding Area, 1954 from "Extinction Studies" series.
India ink on BFK Rives paper. 42.5"x 53", 2019.
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Browse the Store & works for sale
I have some archival pigment prints for sale. These prints are very affordable! If you’re looking for original works, I have recently added the purchase function for some of the drawings on my website. Check out “Celf” series and “Blooming without Savage You” series, for example.
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Celf #3
Seductive and classic (I'm eyeing on you)
Mineral pigment and graphite on paper
10"x 10" (unframed)
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I wish everybody a happy and peaceful holiday season!
Warmly,
Naoe
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