Midori never chose to be an artist; rather, she always made, wrote and spoke to express herself. “Feeling, thinking and dreaming is entwined with art-being for me. Some of my states of art-being end up as artifacts or social practice, and I get to share that. I’m deeply happy when that happens,” explains the artist. Typically working with whatever she can get her hands on, she prefers to dabble in “the humblest or most ancient of materials” (namely flowers, dirt, string, bodies, sumi ink, gold leaf, duct tape, etc.). Midori’s work interrogates memory, literally, tracing the neurological formations and revisions of memory and experience. “Moments of ecstatic and painful beauty” is one way the artist frames her practice. Her work allows her to delve into heavy topics; among them: race, gender, grief and change. “Things that upset me so much and fill me up so much that I don’t have adequate words for my feelings…Creating mischievous catalytic art to engage people to talk about things that are otherwise too uncomfortable to talk about,” is at the core of Midori’s art. A painter in the studio, her social practice work and happenings, so to speak, occur on site in night clubs, living rooms, museums and anywhere the artist finds a suitable space to stir up public engagement. Her greatest artistic challenge is keeping up with documentation and administrative work. Sometimes she’s so swept up in the creative act that she forgets to document. She is sad that some of her performances have no record at all. Midori struggles to stay on top of grants and pursuing opportunities. Right now, she’s finishing a series of Evoco paintings. Meanwhile, those in the NYC area may have seen her immersive installation “Passage” up at the Museum of Sex. Coinciding with the Nobuyoshi Araki, Passage is a liminal space created to transition one into the show with an optimal sense of wonder. Up next, she’s organizing a socially engaged art making event called Queer Qraft Qamp at the San Francisco libraries with her frequent collaborator, Jason Wyman. Midori is also co-authoring a story with graphic novelist Michael Manning and talking with Tiziano Magni about future collaborations. “We have such a good collaborative rhythm! I feel like it’s time for me to do some new big things again!”
http://www.ranshin.com/index.php/evoco/