MODULAR WORKS

GODZILLA (REDUCED TO FRAMES)
“The main figure consists of frames—red, green and yellow with varnish or sawdust—without any painting inside. The frames look like the bones are piled up to form a monster like shape—the instability of the structure gives the impression that the monster could start moving at any second. The work is called “Godzilla,” and it does give the feeling of a dinosaur specimen frozen in the moment before it died in a fearless roar. The monster has died and all that is left are its frames, stacked up to form a tomb.”

Despite the narrative title, the artist’s concern is with what a painting can be. And although the artist says her sculptural installation is about painting, painting is addressed only in its absence. In its place is painting’s “foil”: the frames—it’s like a composer writing a score for a symphony with only the rests. It provokes the viewer to questions the work’s meaning directly while analyzing the work. The empty frames don’t block the viewer’s eye, nor do they let the eye rest. The viewer is compelled to look through the work to the wall and floor. To draw the eye even further through the work, the artist has painted small chemical formulas—and placed them on the floor—fine details to contrast the larger whole of Godzilla. The small figures also look like humans running away from Godzilla in confusion. The work doesn’t answer the question of what painting is, but I felt that I understood the artist’s question. When I was there, the sun began to set through the window, and the installation had the feeling \of the end of a Godzilla movie—with the enigmatic beast roaring into the sunset”
—Yuka Goto, New York, 31 March 1998

Exhibitions
80 Washington Square East Gallery, New York University, New York, 1998.