CAM Raleigh is proud to present New York-based Japanese artist Naoko Ito in her first solo museum exhibition. This series, Urban Nature, examines the relationships between the natural world and the industrial world.
Ito advocates that our entire lives are in a constant state of decay and renewal, an idea elegantly illustrated through the pieces Ubiquitous, Flora andPlight. In these works, segmented tree branches are preserved in glass jars. Ito’s choice of material originally stems from a desire to replicate the luminosity and fragility of ice, a natural material that shares the quality of preservation with jars. Stacked precariously on the concrete, the works are evidence of an unfaltering hand.
A large gallery wall crawls with knotted wire, laboriously knitted by Ito over six months. Its seemingly fragile quality mimics moss or ivy. Living in New York City, she doesn’t have much exposure to wilderness. Trees are a common site in Raleigh, the City of Oaks. But around her home, Ito must purchase branches from the local flower market in order to create her artworks.