Installations / Frozen
Frozen and Flowing are two interconnected installations that trace an emotional arc—one of stillness, memory, and eventual release. Inspired by my return to Nagano, Japan, in the winter of 2016, Frozen began with a quiet encounter: a frozen creek, its water locked in place. The stillness struck me—its power and silence mirroring a time of emotional suspension in my own life.
In rural Japan, winters seem to pause everything. Life slows. People wait for the thaw. Walking beside that creek, I felt the weight of time, of memories fractured and frozen. Yet beneath those cracks was something solid—an emotional foundation that continues to shape my life far from home.
Flowing extends from the same place, but from a different season. As spring arrives, the creek begins to thaw. Water breaks through the ice, reshaping its path with force and grace. What was once motionless becomes alive again. That transformation—the shift from frozen memory to flowing momentum—is reflected in the form of the installation. The Tyvek pieces, once static, stretch into wave-like patterns, each shape in motion, as if carried by the current.
Together, these works reflect on time, transition, and how returning—whether to a place or a feeling—can both still and stir the self.
Photo: Wes Magyar
